Brain drug developer MapLight Therapeutics lost two-thirds of its market value Monday after unveiling clinical trial results that, while positive, raised doubts about whether one of its experimental medicines can compete against a rival product from Bristol Myers Squibb.
The mid-stage trial found MapLight’s medicine generally safe and effective in adults with schizophrenia who were experiencing a sudden worsening of psychotic symptoms. On the study’s main measure, which used a well-known scoring system for schizophrenia symptoms, participants given twice-daily doses of the medicine experienced an average 4.5-point improvement compared to those on a placebo.
The effect was even more pronounced, MapLight said, in the subset of participants who stayed on the medicine for the entirety of the core five-week treatment period. Patients on the twice-daily regimen also fared significantly better on a series of “secondary” tests and “exploratory outcomes.” The trial evaluated a once-daily option as well, but the drug didn’t hit the study’s primary endpoint. MapLight is still analyzing the results to see if there’s a path forward for that regimen.
In a statement, MapLight CEO Chris Kroeger said the company is “very encouraged by these results,” which represent a “powerful, comprehensive overall efficacy profile in schizophrenia.”
