Sage Therapeutics to cut 40% of jobs after depression drug setback
August 31, 2023 at 04:14 pm IST
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(Reuters) - Sage Therapeutics said on Thursday it would cut its workforce by about 40%, weeks after the U.S. health regulator declined to approve its drug to treat major depressive disorder.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in early August approved the company and partner Biogen's pill for postpartum depression, but rejected it as a treatment for major depressive disorder, which is a much larger market.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
Sage Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company. The Company has developed the two FDA-approved treatments indicated for postpartum depression and is advancing a robust pipeline to target unmet needs in brain health. The Company is targeting diseases and disorders of the brain across its clinical development and earlier stage pipeline. Its product ZURZUVAE is for the treatment of postpartum depression (PPD) in adults. ZURZUVAE is a neuroactive steroid that is a positive allosteric modulator of GABA receptors, targeting both synaptic and extra synaptic GABA receptors. Its product ZULRESSO (brexanolone) CIV injection is for the treatment of PPD in individuals 15 years old and older. It is also developing a portfolio of other novel compounds that target GABA receptors, including SAGE-324, which is a novel GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulator intended for chronic oral dosing. Its second area of focus for development is novel compounds that target the NMDA receptor.