Particle.news

Neumora Halts Navacaprant After Phase 3 KOASTAL Failures

A roughly 35% workforce reduction will fund a pivot to three earlier-stage programs, preserving cash into the third quarter of 2027.

Overview

  • Neumora disclosed Monday that it will discontinue development of navacaprant after its Phase 3 KOASTAL‑2 and KOASTAL‑3 studies failed to meet the primary endpoint for depression.
  • The two trials enrolled 430 and 422 adults and showed no meaningful benefit versus placebo on the MADRS depression scale, with least‑squares mean differences of −0.3 (p=0.813) in KOASTAL‑2 and 0.7 (p=0.480) in KOASTAL‑3; a post‑optimization subset also showed no difference (LSMD=0.0, p=0.976).
  • Neumora said navacaprant was generally well tolerated and had a safety profile consistent with prior studies despite the lack of efficacy.
  • The company will cut about 35% of its staff to save an estimated $10 million a year while taking roughly $2 million in one‑time restructuring charges and says current cash should last into Q3 2027.
  • Neumora will refocus on NMRA‑511 (Alzheimer’s agitation), NMRA‑898 (schizophrenia) and NMRA‑215 (cardiometabolic/obesity) with multiple near‑term milestones through late 2026 and 2027, and the trial failure triggered a steep drop in NMRA stock that puts short‑term financing and valuation under pressure.