Sage rebounds after next-gen postpartum depression readout

Sage Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SAGE) gained $41.62 (43%) to $139.13 on Monday after it said SAGE-217 met the primary endpoint in the Phase III ROBIN trial to treat women with severe postpartum depression. The move translates to a gain in market cap of nearly $2 billion. However, the company's shares are still off 29% from their 52-week high of $195.97, reached in intraday trading on Jan. 31, 2018.

Sage’s stock had been falling since loss-of-consciousness concerns began to overshadow the outlook of Sage's other postpartum depression candidate, Zulresso brexanolone. In November, FDA pushed back Zulresso's PDUFA date by three months to March 19 after the company submitted a proposed REMS program to address the loss-of-consciousness events. Both compounds are positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) of GABA A receptor; SAGE-217 is a next-generation candidate (see "REMS Prep Pushes Back Sage's Zulresso Timeline")...