Newron Pharmaceuticals S.p.A. announced encouraging interim results from the first 100 patients in its world-first, international, six-week, open-label, randomized, rater-blinded, multi-centre study of evenamide as an add-on to an antipsychotic in patients with moderate to severe treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS) who were not responding to current antipsychotic medication. The results presented at the 33rdCollegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum (CINP) Hybrid World Congress of Neuropsychopharmacology, in Taipei, Taiwan, show that the addition of evenamide (7.5/15/30mg bid) improved symptoms of psychosis in patients with chronic TRS, reflected by an approximately 12% reduction in the PANSS score, CGI-S improvement of 0.7, and CGI-C ratings indicating 77% of patients responded to the treatment. The first 100 patients were mostly treated with the 7.5 and 15 mg bid doses, as patients were initially randomized to treatment with these doses; an Independent Safety Monitoring Board reviewed the safety data from the first 50 patients completing the trial prior to allowing randomization to the 30 mg bid dose.

Newron expects to initiate a potentially pivotal, multinational, randomized, placebo-controlled study in patients with treatment resistant schizophrenia in the first quarter of 2023, as part of its ongoing Phase II/III development plan for evenamide. This six-week, randomized, rater-blinded study is being conducted at multiple sites in three countries. The study will include approximately 180 patients with TRS on a stable, therapeutic dose of a single antipsychotic other than clozapine.

The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of evenamide given orally at three fixed doses (7.5, 15 and 30 mg bid). The assessment of preliminary efficacy, based on changes from baseline in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Clinical Global Impression - Change from baseline (CGI-C), Severity of illness (CGI-S), and Strauss-Carpenter Level of Functioning (LOF) scale, is a secondary objective. Patients were moderately to severely ill (CGI-S of 4 to 6), with a baseline PANSS total score =70 and <90 and predominant positive symptoms (score of 4 or more on at least 2 core symptoms, along with a total score of at least 20 on these 4 core items plus 3 other positive symptoms), along with functional deficits (GAF =50).

Efficacy and safety assessments were conducted at one to two-week intervals. Patients participating in the study are continuing to receive treatment with evenamide in long-term extension study 015 to determine the long-term benefits of glutamate release inhibition.