Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson announced Thursday it will discontinue development of aticaprant for major depressive disorder, dealing a significant blow to what was once considered a promising therapeutic candidate.
The company revealed that while the experimental drug demonstrated favorable safety and tolerability profiles, it failed to show sufficient effectiveness in treating patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and anhedonia – a core symptom characterized by the inability to feel pleasure or maintain interest in activities.
The decision comes after conducting extensive late-stage clinical trials evaluating aticaprant as an supplementary treatment for adults struggling with treatment-resistant MDD and moderate to severe anhedonia. Despite the setback, J&J indicated it would explore potential applications for the drug in other therapeutic areas with significant unmet medical needs.
J&J emphasized its ongoing commitment to neuroscience research, highlighting its recent $15 billion acquisition of Intra-Cellular Therapies, which produces the mental health medication Caplyta. The company maintained its projected 5-7% compound annual growth rate for its pharmaceutical division, which generated $57 billion in revenue last year, representing a 4% increase from 2023.
The development termination significantly impacts previous market forecasts. Leerink Partners analyst David Risinger had noted Wall Street projections of approximately $1 billion in annual sales for aticaprant by 2032. J&J’s own estimates were even more optimistic, with late 2023 projections suggesting peak annual sales between $1 billion and $5 billion.
The news had broader implications for the pharmaceutical sector, particularly affecting companies developing similar treatments. While J&J’s stock showed resilience with a modest 1% increase on Friday, biotechnology firm Neumora Therapeutics saw its shares decline by roughly 5%.
Neumora, which launched in 2021 with $500 million in backing from prominent investors including Arch Venture Partners, Polaris Partners, and Amgen, has been developing navacaprant, a drug that targets the same kappa opioid receptors as aticaprant. These receptors are believed to influence mood, stress response, and pain perception.
The company’s stock had already suffered a major setback earlier this year when navacaprant failed to outperform placebo in a late-stage trial for moderate-to-severe MDD. Since its initial public offering, Neumora’s shares have plummeted more than 90%, trading at
approximately $1.45 by late Friday morning.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams suggested that J&J’s trial discontinuation could eliminate remaining optimism for kappa opioid receptor drugs in depression treatment. Stifel analyst Paul Matteis downgraded Neumora’s stock to “Hold,” describing the news as a significant setback for the entire drug class.
AbbVie also maintains a presence in this therapeutic space through its Cerevel Therapeutics acquisition, with a kappa opioid antagonist currently in Phase 1 testing. However, the recent developments have cast doubt on the future of this drug class in depression treatment.
Despite this setback, J&J maintains a robust pipeline with nearly 20 other novel drug programs that could potentially achieve blockbuster status. While the termination of aticaprant’s development for depression may complicate J&J’s ambition to become the leading neuroscience company by 2030, the company’s diverse portfolio and recent strategic acquisitions suggest it remains well-positioned in the pharmaceutical landscape.