SAGE Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: SAGE)
Shares of SAGE Therapeutics Inc. more than doubled in value during the regular trading session on Monday after the biotech firm announced that its postpartum depression (PPD) treatment has shown promising study results. $SAGE stock shot up 55%, or $52, to a near $151 in the morning session in New York.
The stock, which closed last week at $97.51, was changing hands at $142.80 after gaining 46%, or $45.28 at 10:30 a.m. Total number of shares traded hit nearly 3,000,000 shares, up from the full-day average of approximately 463,000 shares.
Shares of the Massachusetts-based company have gone down more than 17% year over year, while the S&P 500 has slipped 6.5% and the Nasdaq Biotechnology Exchange-Traded Fund has declined 2.9%.
According to a press release issued by SAGE on Monday morning, a Phase 3 study that the company carried out on its postpartum depression treatment SAGE-217 met its primary and secondary endpoints in patients affected by the condition.
“We’ve made significant progress over the last eight years and our innovative approach to discovery and development has resulted in five consecutive positive trials in mood disorders,” said Jeff Jonas, M.D., chief executive officer at Sage.
“We had a vision to change the way brain disorders were thought about, studied and treated. As we prepare to advance our lead product candidate from development to planned commercialization, we believe we are delivering on that promise.”
Postpartum depression is a type of mood disorder that affects some women once they have given birth to a baby. The condition often appears within 4-6 weeks after childbirth, though it can sometimes take several months to develop. Its symptoms include changes in eating and sleeping patterns, irritability, anxiety, low energy, and sadness.
SAGE said a 30-mg dose of SAGE-217 over a period of two weeks improved symptoms of the depression by 17.8 points compared with 13.6 points for a placebo, on the Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression. The company also said that 45% of patients were in remission at two weeks, while 23% of those who received the placebo achieved remission at two weeks.
SAGE is also planning to avail updates on key initiatives set for this year, including the drug milestones it is expecting to achieve in the next 12 to 18 months.
Sage Therapeutics, Inc. Profile
SAGE Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, which engages in the development and commercialization of novel medicines to treat life-altering central nervous system.
Its programs include brexanolone, which is an acute interventional treatment for postpartum depression; and SAGE-217, an oral therapy for treatment of various CNS disorders. The company was founded by Steven Marc Paul and Douglas Covey in April 2010 and is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. – CNN Money