Johnson & Johnson is cutting several programs—most of which are in neurology and psychiatry—as the company also pulls back from the infectious diseases market.
Johnson & Johnson has discontinued the development of a handful of early- and mid-stage drug candidates, most of which were being advanced for various neurology and psychiatry indications, according to Endpoints News, which first reported the pipeline changes on Tuesday.
A pipeline document on J&J’s website indicates that it will no longer continue an Alzheimer’s disease program for seltorexant, a human orexin-2 receptor blocker that was being studied for the treatment of agitation or aggression in patients. J&J had been running a Phase II study of seltorexant in this indication.
However, J&J will continue to evaluate seltorexant as a treatment for major depressive disorder with insomnia symptoms. In May 2024, the pharma released Phase III data showing that the drug candidate can elicit statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in depressive symptoms, as measured by the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale, while also reducing sleep disturbances.
J&J is also scrapping the early-stage Parkinson’s disease candidate JNJ-0376. In a business overview presentation released in 2023, the pharma listed the candidate under its precision neurosciences pipeline, touting its “novel mechanisms to modify, treat and/or prevent neurodegenerative disorders.”
The pipeline cull also includes JNJ-55308942, a Phase II inhibitor of the P2X7 ion channels, which was being assessed for bipolar depression.
J&J’s latest pipeline cuts follow the pharma’s retreat from the infectious diseases space after it announced in July 2023 that it would discontinue seven programs, mostly in hepatitis B. In January 2023, J&J revealed that its HIV vaccine regimen had a disappointing showing in the Phase III Mosaico trial, causing the company to discontinue the study—its second terminated HIV vaccine trial in as many years.
In March 2023, J&J dropped out of the respiratory syncytial virus race and terminated the Phase III EVERGREEN trial for its vaccine candidate. At the time, the company said that this decision was driven by a review of the competitive landscape. Earlier this month, J&J discontinued the Phase II field study of its preventive therapy mosnodenvir for dengue.
J&J reported its third-quarter 2024 earnings on Tuesday, touting $22.5 billion in sales, representing 5.2% year-over-year growth. Its main growth drivers included the multiple myeloma therapy Darzalex, which brought in $3 billion in sales worldwide, as well as the CAR-T therapy Carvykti and antidepressant nasal spray Spravato, which surged 88% and 55% in Q3, respectively.
The company raised its full-year operational sales forecast to $89.4 billion to $89.9 billion, up from its previous estimate of $89.2 billion to $89.6 billion.
