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 candidate in their drug pipeline.
The company revealed that while the experimental drug demonstrated acceptable safety profiles, it failed to show sufficient effectiveness in treating patients with difficult-to-manage MDD and severe anhedonia – a condition characterized by the inability to feel pleasure or maintain interest in activities.
Despite this setback, J&J maintains it will explore other potential therapeutic applications for aticaprant in areas with significant unmet medical needs. The company emphasized its ongoing commitment to neuroscience research, pointing to its recent $15 billion acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies, which produces the mental health medication Caplyta.
The development halt marks a dramatic shift from late 2023, when J&J projected aticaprant could generate annual sales between $1 billion and $5 billion at its peak. Market analysts, including Leerink Partners’ David Risinger, had forecasted approximately $1 billion in yearly revenue by 2032.
J&J maintains that this setback won’t derail its pharmaceutical division’s projected compound annual growth rate of 5-7%. The division reported $57 billion in sales last year, representing a 4% increase from 2023. The company’s robust pipeline includes nearly 20 other novel drug candidates with potential blockbuster status.
The news had minimal impact on J&J’s stock, which actually rose more than 1% on Friday. However, it triggered a nearly 5% decline in shares of Neumora Therapeutics, a biotech startup developing a similar drug targeting kappa opioid receptors – proteins involved in mood regulation, stress response, and pain perception.
Neumora, which launched in 2021 with $500 million in backing from prominent venture capital firms including Arch Venture Partners and Polaris Partners, has faced its own challenges. The company’s stock plummeted earlier this year when its drug navacaprant failed to outperform placebo in treating moderate-to-severe MDD.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams suggested J&J’s decision could eliminate remaining optimism about the effectiveness of kappa opioid receptor drugs in depression treatment. Stifel analyst Paul Matteis downgraded Neumora’s stock to “Hold,” describing J&J’s announcement as a “big blow” to the entire drug class’s prospects.
The impact on Neumora has been severe, with shares now trading around $1.45, representing a more than 90% decline from its initial public offering price. The company went public in summer 2023 after securing an additional $250 million in funding.
The development of kappa opioid antagonists continues elsewhere in the pharmaceutical industry, with AbbVie pursuing Phase 1 testing of a similar compound acquired through its Cerevel Therapeutics purchase.
This latest development adds to the challenges facing depression drug development, a field that has historically seen both promising breakthroughs and significant disappointments. While J&J’s decision represents a setback for this particular treatment approach, the company’s broader neuroscience ambitions remain intact, including its goal to become the leading neuroscience company by 2030, though this target may now be more challenging to achieve.