Eli Lilly depression drug fails in Phase III study
This article was originally published in Scrip
Eli Lilly said its experimental depression drug edivoxetine failed in a Phase III study and the company won’t pursue developing it as an add-on therapy.
The company said it will continue studying the drug to determine its long-term maintenance effect in depression patients. Lilly tested edivoxetine as a potential adjunctive treatment in people with major depressive disorder. The therapy worked no better than a placebo.
“Negative studies are unfortunately a reality of biopharmaceutical innovation and particularly prevalent in the area of neuroscience given the historically high placebo response rate,” Lilly Research Laboratories president Jan Lundberg said.
The company will take a $15 million charge against fourth-quarter earnings related to the failure.