October 21, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
BALTIMORE – Investors certainly appreciate it when share prices jump due to another company’s success or failure. That’s certainly true this morning as shares of Cerecor Inc. have spiked more than 21 percent thanks to Irish-company Alkermes , which this morning released positive results for its experimental depression drug, ALKS-5461.
Cerecor’s stock is jumping because its mid-stage drug CERC-501 has the same mechanism as Alkermes’ drug. CERC-501 is a potent and selective kappa opioid receptor being developed for substance use disorders (e.g., nicotine, alcohol, and/or cocaine). Next year the company plans to launch a clinical trial to test CERC-501 as a potential treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) the same treatment target as ALKS-5461, Endpoints reported this morning. KORs are believed to play a key role in modulating stress, mood and addictive disorders.
The stock bounce is certainly good for the company that paid $1 million for the drug from Eli Lilly last year, Endpoints reported. Uli Hacksell, chief executive officer of Cerecor told Endpoints this morning that the company has been more than happy with the terms of the Lilly deal. The Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly had plans to shelve CERC-501 so the company could pursue treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, Endpoints said.
There’s no indication if Cerecor’s stock bounce will be lasting, and as of this writing, share prices have already slipped from its high of $4.48 to $3.95 this morning. Still, the stock is up from the morning low of $3.76 per share. As of 11:46 a.m.
Before pursuing CERC-501 for MDD, Endpoints said the company will wait the full data set from Alkermes’ Phase III to “soak up as many lessons as possible for its own development campaign.” But, the company is not leaving MDD until next year, as it already has an ongoing Phase II trial with CERC-301, an oral and NR2B-specific NMDA antagonist. Top-line data from the Phase II study is expected in November, the company said on its website. CERC-301 received Fast Track Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November 2013 for the treatment of MDD.
Alkermes reported this morning that its experimental anti-depression drug ALKS-5461, significantly reduced symptoms in patients suffering from major depressive disorder who were not helped by standard treatments. ALKS 5461 consists of samidorphan and buprenorphine, and is designed to rebalance brain function that is dysregulated in the state of depression. The drug was granted Fast Track designation by the FDA in 2013.
