Down but not out for TC-5214 in depression
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
AstraZeneca/Targacept's investigational antidepressant TC-5214 has failed its first Phase III trial, which tested whether the antidepressant is effective as an add-on to existing treatments in non-responders. Despite the obvious setback, especially for Targacept which lost around $350 million in market value on the announcement of the failure, AstraZeneca and Targacept should remain optimistic for TC-5214's remaining Phase III studies. It can be notoriously difficult to demonstrate a significant effect in depression trials due to high placebo responses.