Sage’s Pipeline Prospects Narrow Further As Dalzanemdor Fails In Huntington’s

Third And Final Indication For NMDA Modulator

Sage will end development for dalzanemdor after it failed in a Phase II Huntington’s disease trial, leaving the company with one commercial drug and three early-stage assets.

After building up a mid-stage R&D pipeline, all four of Sage's planned 2024 readouts were negative. (Shutterstock)

Sage Therapeutics started 2024 with two drug candidates in Phase II clinical trials across four indications and ended the year with negative readouts for all of those studies, including the Phase II DIMENSION trial of dalzanemdor (SAGE-718) as a treatment for cognitive impairment associated with Huntington’s disease. Based on that readout, Sage said on 20 November that it will discontinue development of dalzanemdor in all indications.

Key Takeaways

Sage’s dalzanemdor failed in its last Phase II clinical trial, testing it in cognitive impairment associated with Huntington’s disease, so the company ended development of the drug.

Dalzanemdor did not achieve statistical significance versus placebo on the primary endpoint of change from baseline on the Symbol Digit...