Scoop: No­var­tis ax­es mid-stage de­pres­sion tri­al of ke­t­a­mine-like in­jec­tion

No­var­tis has scrapped a Phase II clin­i­cal tri­al of an in­ves­ti­ga­tion­al treat­ment for ma­jor de­pres­sive dis­or­der re­lat­ed to sui­ci­dal ideation, the Swiss Big Phar­ma con­firmed to End­points News.

The de­ci­sion was made “fol­low­ing a ben­e­fit risk as­sess­ment of avail­able da­ta,” a No­var­tis spokesper­son said via email. The cull was dis­closed in an Oct. 6 up­date to the fed­er­al tri­als data­base.

No­var­tis was test­ing MIJ821, an IV in­jec­tion, ver­sus place­bo to see if it was bet­ter at re­duc­ing de­pres­sion symp­toms. The near­ly 200-pa­tient tri­al be­gan in Ju­ly 2021 and wrapped up this Ju­ly, per the clin­i­cal­tri­als.gov en­try. The com­pa­ny se­cured the as­set through its $210 mil­lion up­front buy­out of Ca­dent Ther­a­peu­tics in 2020.

Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.

You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.

SIGN UP LOG IN BECOME A PREMIUM SUBSCRIBER