Minerva Shares Surge As Schizophrenia Candidate Shows Long Term Improvement In Negative Symptoms, Functioning

Minerva Neurosciences Inc NERV has announced results from the 40-week open-label extension (OLE) of its Phase 3 trial evaluating roluperidone for the treatment of negative symptoms (NS) of schizophrenia.
Over the 40-week OLE period, 333 patients participated. 166 patients received the 32 mg dose, and 167 patients received the 64 mg dose.
The mean improvement in negative symptoms was 6.8 points in the 32 mg arm and 7.5 points in the 64 mg arm.
Personal and Social Performance (PSP) score improved by a mean of 12.3 points in the 32 mg arm and 14.5 points in the 64 mg arm.
The mean improvement in positive symptoms was 1.9 points in the 32 mg arm and 1.8 points in the 64 mg arm.
Reduced emotional experience had a mean improvement of 2.8 points in the 32 mg group and 3.0 points in the 64 mg group.
The relapse rate during the OLE was 15/166 patients (9%) in the 32 mg arm and 10/167 (6%) in the 64 mg arm. Over the one-year duration, the relapse rate was 11.7% overall.
Roluperidone at both doses was safe and well-tolerated, and treatment-emergent adverse events were generally mild to moderate in severity.
Minerva will discuss these results during its Q1 2021 conference call and webcast today at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Price Action: NERV shares are trading 29.1% higher at $2.88 during the premarket session on the last check Wednesday.