Sage suffers pipeline setback with failure of drug to treat essential tremor

Sage Therapeutics said Wednesday that an experimental pill failed to quell involuntary muscle shaking in patients with a neurological condition called essential tremor.

The negative study result for the drug, called SAGE-324, is a significant setback for Sage’s neurology pipeline, and its effort to develop a successful medicine beyond Zurzuvae, an approved treatment for postpartum depression. Biogen co-owns rights to SAGE-324 and Zurzuvae as part of a partnership signed in 2020.

The companies said they will halt work on SAGE-324 in essential tremor, although Sage said it may evaluate the potential for the drug in other diseases.