Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson announced Thursday it is discontinuing development of aticaprant for major depressive disorder after the drug showed insufficient effectiveness in late-stage clinical trials. The experimental medication, which was being tested as an add-on therapy for patients with difficult-to-treat depression and severe anhedonia symptoms, had previously been projected by the company to potentially generate between $1 billion and $5 billion in peak annual sales.
Despite maintaining a favorable safety profile, aticaprant failed to demonstrate adequate efficacy in treating the target patient population. The company indicated it will explore potential
applications for the drug in other therapeutic areas with significant unmet medical needs, though specific indications were not disclosed.
The setback comes as J&J has been working to establish itself as a leader in neuroscience, recently evidenced by its approximately $15 billion acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies, maker of the psychiatric medication Caplyta. The company maintains its commitment to the neuroscience field and states that its pharmaceutical division is still on track to achieve projected growth rates of 5-7% annually, following $57 billion in sales last year.
Wall Street analysts had modest expectations for aticaprant, with Leerink Partners projecting around $1 billion in annual sales by 2032. The news had minimal impact on J&J’s stock, which rose more than 1% Friday. However, the announcement dealt a blow to Neumora
Therapeutics, whose shares declined nearly 5%. Neumora, a biotech startup focused on similar drug technology, has faced its own challenges after its comparable depression drug navacaprant failed to outperform placebo in recent clinical trials.
Both companies’ drugs work by blocking kappa opioid receptors, proteins involved in mood regulation and stress response. The consecutive trial failures have raised doubts about this therapeutic approach for depression treatment. RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams suggested the discontinued J&J trials could eliminate remaining optimism about these drugs’ potential in depression treatment.
The impact was particularly harsh for Neumora, whose stock has plummeted more than 90% since its IPO and traded around $1.45 per share Friday morning. The company had launched in late 2021 with $500 million in funding from prominent investors including Arch Venture Partners, Polaris Partners, and Amgen, later raising an additional $250 million through its 2023 public offering.
Stifel analyst Paul Matteis downgraded Neumora’s stock to “Hold,” describing J&J’s decision as a “big blow” to the scientific rationale behind kappa opioid receptor-targeting drugs. The development also raises questions about similar compounds in development, including AbbVie’s early-stage drug acquired through its Cerevel Therapeutics purchase.
Despite this setback, J&J remains well-positioned with a diverse pipeline that includes nearly 20 other novel drug candidates with potential blockbuster status. The company’s pharmaceutical division demonstrated steady growth with a 4% increase in sales from 2023 to 2024. While the termination of aticaprant’s depression program may complicate J&J’s ambition to become the leading neuroscience company by 2030, the broad scope of their drug development portfolio helps mitigate the impact of individual program failures.
The announcement underscores the ongoing challenges in developing effective treatments for major depressive disorder, a condition that continues to present significant unmet medical needs despite numerous therapeutic approaches under investigation by pharmaceutical companies.