Acadia drops after schizophrenia treatment fails clinical trial

Acadia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ACAD) plunged 15% in after-hours trading on Monday after the company announced that its late-stage study evaluating pimavanserin for the treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia did not meet its primary endpoint.

According to ACAD, Pimavanserin did not demonstrate a statistically significant improvement over placebo on the study’s primary endpoint, which tracked the change from baseline to week 26 on the Negative Symptom Assessment-16 total score.

The safety and tolerability profile of pimavanserin was consistent with previous clinical trials, the firm said, showing a low rate of adverse events.

“We will continue to analyze these data with our scientific advisors, but we do not intend to conduct any further clinical trials with pimavanserin,” said Steve Davis, Acadia’s Chief Executive Officer.