Sage optimistic about antidepressant’s prospects despite value-destroying Phase III miss

Sage Therapeutics believes a non-compliance issue in one treatment arm may have contributed to its antidepressant’s failure in a key Phase III trial, and company management made a case that the study’s results could still support the candidate’s approval to treat major depressive disorder, along with additional readouts due next year.

Sage Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SAGE) shed $4.6 billion in market cap, losing three fifths of its value, after SAGE-217 missed the primary endpoint in the MOUNTAIN study. MOUNTAIN is one of six pivotal trials of the second-generation positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of GABA A receptor. Two have already met their primary endpoints, and three are ongoing...