The BioWorld Neurological Diseases Index showed signs of recovery in August, narrowing its year-to-date decline to 14.31%, compared to a steeper drop of 22.34% at the end of May. Momentum shifted notably over the summer, with 17 of the 20 component companies posting gains between June and August. This marks a reversal from May, when 15 of the 20 stocks were in the red.
Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc. is buying Sage Therapeutics Inc. for about $795 million. The deal brings Supernus, already firmly in the CNS market, the only U.S. FDA-approved oral treatment for postpartum depression. Supernus CEO Jack Khattar said he believes sales will support the acquisition, but some analysts had their doubts.
The phase IIb study results of Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s SPN-820 in treatment-resistant depression had pulled the company’s stock (NASDAQ:SUPN) down 15.6% on Feb. 19. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of adults failed to show a statistically significant improvement on the primary endpoint of change from baseline on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression rating scale. Shares closed at $33.52 apiece on Feb. 19.
Citing significant implications for patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, as well as the broader public interest that’s at stake, the U.S. FTC filed an amicus brief in Sage Chemical Inc.’s district court challenge of Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s strategies to block generic competition of its injectable Parkinson’s drug, Apokyn (apomorphine).
Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc. CEO Jack Khattar, in disclosing his firm’s plan to acquire Adamas Pharmaceuticals Inc., said the team there has made “significant progress in redirecting” the Parkinson’s disease (PD) drug Gocovri (amantadine), but plenty more potential remains on the table with the oral selective RET kinase inhibitor.
Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc. has struck an agreement with privately held Navitor Pharmaceuticals Inc. to run a joint phase II program for Navitor's mTORC1 activator, NV-5138, in treatment-resistant depression (TRD).
Supernus Pharmaceuticals Inc. CEO Jack Khattar said the phase III failure in the study called P301 with SPN-810 (molindone hydrochloride) was "very puzzling" to the Rockville, Md.-based firm, which will be "digging very deep into the data" with hopes of figuring out what went wrong. Shares (NASDAQ:SUPN) closed Wednesday at $19.93, down $9.20, or 31.6%.
