How Minerva Neursciences Is Outsmarting Insomia

Health and Healthcare

Published: June 24, 2019 9:35 am

Last Updated: January 6, 2020 3:30 am

Minerva Neurosciences Inc. (NASDAQ: NERV) saw its shares jump on Monday after the firm announced results from a trial related to an insomnia treatment. Specifically, the results came from the clinical trial (ISM2005) of seltorexant (MIN-202) in patients with insomnia disorder.

Ultimately, the trial demonstrated highly statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement on latency to persistent sleep (LPS) at Night 1, the primary endpoint of the study. The mean decrease from baseline at Night 1 in LPS was 15 minutes for placebo, 30 minutes for seltorexant 5 mg, 50 minutes for 10 mg and 48 minutes for 20 mg.

In terms of the key secondary endpoint, WASO-6 at Night 1, the mean improvement from baseline at Night 1 was 15 minutes for placebo, 23 minutes for seltorexant 5 mg, 43 minutes for 10 mg and 45 minutes for 20 mg. Also, multiple secondary endpoints were improved versus placebo and standard of care zolpidem, which is available under the brand name Ambien.

Professor Thomas Roth, director of the Sleep Disorders and Research Center at Henry Ford Hospital, commented:

The findings from this study demonstrate that seltorexant significantly improves sleep induction and prolongs sleep duration. The results also demonstrate that seltorexant showed a significantly greater improvement in these sleep parameters compared to zolpidem.

Shares of Minerva were last seen up about 38% at $5.84 on Monday, in a 52-week range of $4.07 to $12.95. The consensus price target is $19.75.