Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson announced Thursday it will discontinue development of aticaprant for major depressive disorder (MDD), dealing a significant blow to what was once considered a promising drug candidate with blockbuster potential.
The company’s decision came after late-stage clinical trials revealed insufficient effectiveness in treating patients with hard-to-treat MDD and moderate-to-severe anhedonia, a key depression symptom
characterized by the inability to feel pleasure or joy. While safety and tolerability profiles remained favorable, the drug failed to demonstrate adequate efficacy in the target population.
Despite this setback, J&J maintains it will investigate potential applications for aticaprant in other therapeutic areas with
significant unmet medical needs. The company also reaffirmed its commitment to neuroscience research, pointing to its recent $15 billion acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies, manufacturer of the psychiatric medication Caplyta.
The development suspension impacts Wall Street projections, with Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger noting that market
expectations had placed aticaprant’s annual sales at approximately $1 billion by 2032. This figure fell well below J&J’s own late-2023 forecast, which had suggested peak annual sales between $1 billion and $5 billion.
The news rippled through the biotech sector, particularly affecting Neumora Therapeutics, whose shares declined nearly 5% following J&J’s announcement. Neumora, which went public in 2023 after securing substantial venture capital backing, is developing a similar drug targeting kappa opioid receptors – proteins involved in mood regulation, stress response, and pain perception.
Neumora had already faced challenges earlier this year when its own drug, navacaprant, failed to outperform placebo in treating
moderate-to-severe MDD. The company’s stock has plummeted more than 90% since its IPO, trading at approximately $1.45 per share.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams suggested J&J’s trial termination could eliminate remaining optimism about this drug class’s potential in depression treatment. Similarly, Stifel analyst Paul Matteis downgraded Neumora’s stock to “Hold,” describing J&J’s decision as a “big blow” to the therapeutic approach.
The development also raises questions about similar compounds in development, including AbbVie’s kappa opioid antagonist, currently in Phase 1 testing, which the company acquired through its Cerevel Therapeutics purchase.
Despite the setback, J&J remains confident in meeting its
pharmaceutical division’s projected compound annual growth rate of 5% to 7%. The division reported $57 billion in sales last year, representing a 4% increase from 2023. The company’s stock showed resilience, rising more than 1% following the announcement.
J&J emphasized that aticaprant represented just one of nearly 20 novel drug candidates in its pipeline with potential blockbuster status. The company maintains its ambitious goal of becoming the leading neuroscience company by 2030, though the project’s termination may complicate this objective.
The development termination highlights the inherent risks in pharmaceutical research and development, particularly in the challenging field of mental health therapeutics. It also demonstrates the broader impact that major pharmaceutical companies’ decisions can have on smaller biotech firms working in similar therapeutic areas.