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Compass shares hits record low after depression drug fails to impress
By Mariam Sunny and Christy Santhosh - 6/23/2025
By Mariam Sunny and Christy Santhosh
(Reuters) -Compass Pathways' psilocybin-based depression therapy reduced the severity of symptoms in a closely watched study, but shares of the biotech firm plunged more than 46% to a record low on Monday as the results fell short of market expectations.
Patients with treatment-resistant depression who received a 25 milligram dose of the drug, COMP360, for six weeks saw an improvement of 3.6 points in severity as measured on a standardized depression symptom scale, compared with a placebo.
The improvement came in below a five-point reduction in symptom severity that analysts and investors were expecting, and a four-point reduction seen in the drug's mid-stage study.
While the data indicates that COMP360 might get approved, the drug's weaker effect at six weeks and unclear durability could put its commercial success in question, Evercore ISI analysts said.
The treatment's efficacy was also weaker than that seen with Johnson & Johnson's ketamine-based Spravato in studies, which is already approved to treat the condition.
Despite the underwhelming results, the data adds to existing research on the use of alternative modes of therapy to treat depression, a condition that affects over 21 million U.S. adults annually.
Compass's synthetic psilocybin therapy is designed as a short-term, episodic alternative to daily antidepressants, CEO Kabir Nath told Reuters ahead of Monday's results.
The company plans to share 26-week data from the study in the coming months and 26-week data from another late-stage study by the second half of 2026.
Nath said Compass would request a meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss the data and regulatory path forward for the drug.
"The question of how they interpret this data and how other kinds of newer voices in the administration think about it, that we have to wait to see," he said.
Mid-stage data for the drug had previously raised concerns about suicidal tendencies. An independent committee was closely monitoring for this effect in both the studies of COMP360, Nath said.
(Reporting by Mariam Sunny, Christy Santhosh and Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Puyaan Singh; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Anil D'Silva)