Latest news with #Zurzuvae
Indian Express
06-08-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
First postpartum depression pill has only 60 per cent success: Why a pill may help but not heal everything
Latest clinical trials have found that Zurzuvae, the first pill for postpartum depression, which was approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2023, has had a 60 per cent success rate in improving the mental health of new mothers. It had varied effects among thousands of users. For some, symptoms improved remarkably. Others described a modest benefit that didn't last or said their depression persisted. Yet others did not complete the two-week regimen because they said they felt sedated all the time, which interfered with their ability to care for their babies or to fulfil other responsibilities. Manufacturers had claimed that the pill can ease symptoms for some women in as little as three days, while general antidepressants can take weeks. This had brought new hope to women struggling silently during one of the most emotionally and physically demanding periods of their lives. 'It's important to remember that postpartum depression is rarely a one-dimensional condition. In my experience as a clinician, I've seen that the causes of PPD are deeply multifactorial,' says Dr Manjula Anagani, Clinical Director, HOD, CARE Vatsalya, Women and Child Institute, CARE Hospitals, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. What is post-partum depression? Postpartum depression is a mood disorder that occurs in a woman after childbirth, impacting her emotional well-being and functionality. It's not a sign of weakness and is a treatable medical condition. It is believed to be caused by a combination of factors, including hormonal fluctuations after childbirth, sleep deprivation and exhaustion, stressful life events or a history of mental health issues and a lack of social support. What is zurzuvae? It is a synthetic version of a steroid called allopregnanolone that originates in the brain. It is believed to offset the effects of a sudden dip in pregnancy hormones after childbirth. Some women react strongly to the plummeting of hormone levels, which even lower levels of the steroid. Zurzuvae can be taken with other antidepressants, and, since its use is confined to a 14-day course, some doctors recommend it as an adjunct or bridge to ease severe symptoms before longer-term use of antidepressants. Why are the results limited? A drop in hormones after childbirth plays a role. But so do other equally powerful contributors: chronic sleep deprivation, lack of emotional or physical support, identity shifts, feelings of inadequacy and unrealistic expectations about motherhood. The hormonal imbalance may be the spark but it's often the entire environment that fans the flame. That's why I view this new pill not as a solution but as a possible support in the wider framework of care. For women whose depression is predominantly triggered by hormonal shifts, the drug may offer quicker relief than traditional antidepressants. But we must not lose sight of the bigger picture. No pill, however effective, can replace the tender loving care a new mother needs. Sleep is one of the most overlooked aspects of postpartum recovery. When a mother is up every few hours nursing, soothing, or rocking a baby, her mental and emotional reserves are quickly depleted. Add to that the absence of help — whether from a partner, extended family, or a healthcare system not equipped to offer enough postnatal support — and the toll becomes profound. Of course, this new pill has helped reduce stigma by legitimizing postpartum depression as a biological condition. If this drug can open the door to more awareness and acceptance — both by mothers and society at large — then it is a step in the right direction. Why the pill is not a cure-all That's because the pill is bio-chemical but the emotional wellbeing in the postpartum period is complex and deeply personal. What mothers need is a continuum of care: emotional validation, safe spaces to talk, professional mental health support, adequate rest and shared responsibilities at home.
Yahoo
28-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Biogen Gears Up to Report Q2 Earnings: Here's What to Expect
Biogen BIIB will report second-quarter 2025 results on July 31, before market open. In the last reported quarter, the company's earnings missed expectation by 7.4%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter sales and earnings is pegged at $2.32 billion and $3.95 per share, respectively. Factors to Consider for Biogen In the second quarter, lower sales of Biogen's multiple sclerosis ('MS') drugs are likely to have been offset by sequential revenue growth from new products. Sales of Biogen's MS drugs like Tecfidera and Tysabri are likely to have declined due to generic competition for Tecfidera globally and biosimilar competition to Tysabri in Europe and rising competitive pressure in the MS market. Biosimilar versions of Tysabri are expected to be launched in the United States in the fourth quarter of 2025. The Zacks Consensus Estimate and our model estimate for second-quarter sales of Tecfidera are pegged at $178.0 million and $173.9 million, respectively. The Zacks Consensus Estimate and our estimate for Tysabri are pegged at $373.0 million and $395.5 million, respectively. Sales of another MS drug Vumerity are expected to have risen due to higher demand. The Zacks Consensus Estimate and our estimate for Vumerity are pegged at $70.0 million and $181.9 million, respectively. Around 45% of Biogen's product revenues are derived from key drugs outside the MS business. Sales of Biogen's spinal muscular atrophy drug, Spinraza, rose in the first quarter due to the favorable timing of shipments in ex-U.S. markets, which is likely to have reversed in the second quarter. In the United States, higher pricing offset the negative impact of a decrease in demand, a trend likely to have continued in the second quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate and our estimate for Spinraza are pegged at $397.0 million and $403.0 million, respectively. Though sales of Biogen's newly launched drug Skyclarys for Friedreich's ataxia are likely to have benefited from continued geographic expansion outside the United States, some Medicare discount dynamics might have tempered sequential growth in the United States. Ex-U.S. sales are expected to be a more important driver of growth for Skyclarys in 2025. Another new drug, Zurzuvae's sales are likely to have continued to rise on a sequential basis backed by strong patient demand. Biogen has a collaboration with Sage Therapeutics SAGE for Zurzuvae. Biogen and Sage equally share profits and losses for the commercialization of Zurzuvae in the United States. At the same time, in outside U.S. markets, Biogen records product sales (excluding Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea) and pays royalties to Sage. Zurzuvae has not yet been approved in the EU. Supernus Pharmaceuticals SUPN is acquiring Sage Therapeutics in a deal valued at up to $795 million. Contract manufacturing and royalty revenues and Alzheimer's collaboration revenues are expected to have risen in the quarter. Alzheimer's collaboration revenues include Biogen's 50% share of net product revenues and cost of sales (including royalties) from Alzheimer's drug Leqembi (lecanemab), which has been developed in collaboration with Eisai. Leqembi sales improved sequentially in the last three quarters with the positive trend expected to have continued in the second quarter. Leqembi sales are recorded by Eisai. Leqembi has already been launched in the United States, Japan, China and some other countries. Leqembi was approved in Europe in April 2025 A less frequent maintenance intravenous dosing version of Leqembi was approved by the FDA in January 2025 while a regulatory application for the subcutaneous autoinjector is under review with a decision from the FDA expected on Aug. 31, 2025. BIIB's Earnings Surprise History The company's earnings beat estimates in three of the last four quarters while missing on one. The company has a four-quarter earnings surprise of 8.36%, on average. Biogen's stock has declined 14.0% so far this year against an increase of 3.2% for the industry. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research What Our Model Says for BIIB Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for Biogen this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. But that is not the case here. Earnings ESP: Biogen's Earnings ESP is -0.85%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is pegged at $3.95 per share, while the Most Accurate Estimate is pegged lower at $3.91 per share. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they're reported with our Earnings ESP Filter. Zacks Rank: Biogen has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Stock to Consider A drug/biotech stock that has the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this time around: Eli Lilly & Company LLY has an Earnings ESP of +1.03% and a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. Lilly's stock has risen 5.7% so far this year. LLY beat earnings estimates in two of the last four quarters while missing in the remaining two. On average, Lilly witnessed an earnings surprise of 6.69% in the last four quarters. Lilly is scheduled to release its second-quarter results on Aug. 7. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Biogen Inc. (BIIB) : Free Stock Analysis Report Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SUPN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Sage Therapeutics, Inc. (SAGE) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Boston Globe
23-07-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
First pill for postpartum depression shows varied real-world results
'I felt like I wasn't doing enough, I wasn't doing anything right,' she said. She began to think her son and husband might be better off without her. When the baby was about 5 months old, she tried to take her life with a gun. Cohn, 30, who lives near Fayetteville, North Carolina, was hospitalized for weeks and underwent surgeries to repair damage to her jaw, nose, tongue and face. But her postpartum depression remained challenging to treat. The hospital's maternal mental health specialists decided to have her try a medication that had recently become available: the first pill specifically for postpartum depression. Clinical trials had found that the drug, zuranolone, marketed as Zurzuvae and taken daily for 14 days, can ease symptoms for some women in as little as three days, while general antidepressants can take weeks. For Cohn, its impact was swift and striking. On her fourth day of taking it, she said she suddenly 'felt so much clarity in my head, like I didn't have nagging thoughts about not being good enough.' Advertisement Now, a year and a half after the drug became available, thousands of women have tried it, and their experiences have run the gamut. For some, symptoms improved remarkably. Others described a modest benefit that didn't last or said their depression persisted. And others didn't complete the two-week regimen because profound drowsiness, a common side effect of the drug, interfered with their ability to care for their babies or to fulfill other responsibilities. Advertisement One in eight women in the United States experiences depression during pregnancy or in the year after giving birth, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, and effective treatments are crucially needed. While the fast-acting pill shows promise, doctors say the challenge now is to determine which patients will benefit and why some don't. Clinical trials of the drug found that postpartum depression improved in about 60% of patients. 'It's not everyone,' Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, a leader of the trials and director of the Center for Women's Mood Disorders at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said at a National Institutes of Health conference. 'So, what is it about the people that are going to respond versus those that don't?' Stacey, 42, of San Diego, who asked to be identified only by her first name to protect her privacy, said Zurzuvae made her 'so tired' that after several days of taking it, 'I just felt like a zombie.' 'I actually felt more depressed while I was on it,' she said. To address Stacey's response to the medication, Dr. Alison Reminick, director of women's reproductive mental health at the University of California, San Diego, advised her to take half doses for the rest of the 14 days. But Stacey said she stopped Zurzuvae altogether, halfway through the regimen, because the sluggishness made it difficult to care for her baby. Advertisement 'The medication is incredibly sedating,' Reminick said. 'There's a warning on the box. They can't drive for 12 hours after taking it, and they can't really take care of their children without help.' Yet, some patients don't experience sedation and others welcome it because it helps them get much-needed sleep and feel less overwhelmed, said doctors who prescribe Zurzuvae. The week after Cohn started taking Zurzuvae, the turnaround of her symptoms was so obvious that she was discharged from the hospital. 'She had a really nice improvement of her postpartum depression with that medicine,' said Dr. Riah Patterson, a psychiatrist at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Cohn finished the 14-day regimen at home and attended intensive outpatient therapy for months. Now, she has gone back to work as a tattoo artist, and she said that with weekly therapy and an anxiety medication, she is managing the aftermath of the crisis, including undergoing additional surgeries. 'I'm just excited to get a little bit closer to really being me again,' she said. She no longer feels anxious about her parenting ability and enjoys playing with her son and taking him to places like the local children's museum. 'He makes everything worth pushing through.' An ultrasound of Samantha Cohn's pregnancy on her refrigerator, near Fayetteville. The drug zuranolone relieved Cohn's postpartum depression, which was so severe that she tried to take her own life. MADELINE GRAY/NYT Importance of Quick Intervention Zurzuvae is a synthetic version of a steroid called allopregnanolone that originates in the brain. The theory behind the medication is that perinatal depression often arises as hormones that surge in pregnancy plummet during childbirth. Some patients seem particularly sensitive to that sudden drop-off, which also lowers levels of the steroid, Meltzer-Brody said. Zurzuvae can be taken with other antidepressants, and, since it is prescribed for only a single 14-day course, some doctors use it as an adjunct or bridge to ease severe symptoms before longer-term use of antidepressants. Advertisement Some patients who are breastfeeding have declined to take the drug because its penetration of breast milk has not yet been studied. Doctors said it is most likely safe, but if patients are concerned, they might pump two weeks' worth of milk before starting Zurzuvae. Initial logistical hurdles in obtaining Zurzuvae frustrated doctors who said the delays undermined the purpose of a quick-acting medication. Some insurers initially set strict conditions for covering the drug, which has a list price of $15,900. Doctors said some insurers required patients to try other antidepressants first or to obtain prescriptions from psychiatrists, steps that went beyond the FDA requirements for Zurzuvae. Joy Burkhard, CEO of the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, said most insurers and Medicaid no longer have such barriers, but a few still require extra steps. Zurzuvae is not available in retail pharmacies, only specialty pharmacies that require patients to take various measures to validate insurance and delivery information, according to a spokesperson for Chris Benecchi, chief operating officer of Sage, which is expected to be acquired by Supernus Pharmaceuticals later this year, said Sage had worked to resolve logistical issues and that prescriptions had increased. More than 10,000 orders have been sent to patients, Sage said, adding that about 80% of the prescriptions were issued by OB-GYNs. 'The majority of patients are able to get the medication within days,' Benecchi said, adding that if patients encounter delays, Sage will ship Zurzuvae directly 'as rapidly as possible.' Advertisement Quick access is crucial, doctors say. Hannah Ginther was hospitalized for a week last summer at UNC Chapel Hill for symptoms that included obsessively worrying that her second child, then 10 months old, had a neurological disorder, even though doctors said the baby did not. 'I just couldn't get out of that loop of jumping to worst-case-scenario,' Ginther, 36, said at her home in Wilmington, North Carolina. 'I would throw up. I struggled to get out of bed, struggled to do basic, daily-living things.' When she was discharged from the hospital, doctors prescribed Zurzuvae, but her insurance rejected coverage, saying she would qualify only if she had developed postpartum depression in her last trimester of pregnancy, or within four weeks after childbirth, Patterson said. Ultimately, the hospital appealed to Sage, which sent the drug to Ginther at no cost. But the insurance hiccups had caused a two-week delay, during which, Ginther said, her symptoms 'spiraled again.' She was rehospitalized for nine days. Dr. Julia Riddle, a psychiatrist at UNC Chapel Hill, said the second hospitalization might have been avoided if the Zurzuvae had arrived sooner. In clinical trials, patients helped by Zurzuvae continued doing well 45 days later. About half of those who took Zurzuvae were considered to be in remission. Riddle is following patients to see if the benefit can last longer. 'No one's illness is exactly the same,' Riddle said. So far 'no one has said they'd never take it again; it's just varying levels of how helpful it was.' Advertisement This article originally appeared in .
New York Times
22-07-2025
- Health
- New York Times
First Pill for Postpartum Depression Shows Varied Real-World Results
Depression descended on Samantha Cohn about two months after her baby boy was born. He was thriving, but she became convinced she was a terrible mother. 'I felt like I wasn't doing enough, I wasn't doing anything right,' she said. She began to think her son and husband might be better off without her. When the baby was about 5 months old, she tried to take her life with a gun. Ms. Cohn, 30, who lives near Fayetteville, N.C., was hospitalized for weeks and underwent surgeries to repair damage to her jaw, nose, tongue and face. But her postpartum depression remained challenging to treat. The hospital's maternal mental health specialists decided to have her try a medication that had recently become available: the first pill specifically for postpartum depression. Clinical trials had found that the drug, zuranolone, marketed as Zurzuvae and taken daily for 14 days, can ease symptoms for some women in as little as three days, while general antidepressants can take weeks. For Ms. Cohn, its impact was swift and striking. On her fourth day of taking it, she said she suddenly 'felt so much clarity in my head, like I didn't have nagging thoughts about not being good enough.' Now, a year and a half after the drug became available, thousands of women have tried it, and their experiences have run the gamut. For some, symptoms improved remarkably. Others described a modest benefit that didn't last or said their depression persisted. And others didn't complete the two-week regimen because profound drowsiness, a common side effect of the drug, interfered with their ability to care for their babies or to fulfill other responsibilities. One in eight women in the United States experiences depression during pregnancy or in the year after giving birth, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, and effective treatments are crucially needed. While the fast-acting pill shows promise, doctors say the challenge now is to determine which patients will benefit and why some don't. Clinical trials of the drug found that postpartum depression improved in about 60 percent of patients. 'It's not everyone,' Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, a leader of the trials and director of the Center for Women's Mood Disorders at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said at a National Institutes of Health conference. 'So, what is it about the people that are going to respond versus those that don't?' Stacey, 42, of San Diego, who asked to be identified by her first name to protect her privacy, said Zurzuvae made her 'so tired' that after several days of taking it, 'I just felt like a zombie.' 'I actually felt more depressed while I was on it,' she said. To address Stacey's response to the medication, Dr. Alison Reminick, director of women's reproductive mental health at the University of California, San Diego, advised her to take half doses for the rest of the 14 days. But Stacey said she stopped Zurzuvae altogether, halfway through the regimen, because the sluggishness made it difficult to care for her baby. 'The medication is incredibly sedating,' Dr. Reminick said. 'There's a warning on the box. They can't drive for 12 hours after taking it and they can't really take care of their children without help.' Yet, some patients don't experience sedation and others welcome it because it helps them get much-needed sleep and feel less overwhelmed, said doctors who prescribe Zurzuvae. The week after Ms. Cohn started taking Zurzuvae, the turnaround of her symptoms was so obvious that she was discharged from the hospital. 'She had a really nice improvement of her postpartum depression with that medicine,' said Dr. Riah Patterson, a psychiatrist at U.N.C. Chapel Hill. Ms. Cohn finished the 14-day regimen at home and attended intensive outpatient therapy for months. Now, she has gone back to work as a tattoo artist, and she said that with weekly therapy and an anxiety medication, she is managing the aftermath of the crisis, including undergoing additional surgeries. 'I'm just excited to get a little bit closer to really being me again,' she said. She no longer feels anxious about her parenting ability and enjoys playing with her son and taking him to places like the local children's museum. 'He makes everything worth pushing through.' Importance of quick intervention Zurzuvae is a synthetic version of a steroid called allopregnanolone that originates in the brain. The theory behind the medication is that perinatal depression often arises as hormones that surge in pregnancy plummet during childbirth. Some women seem particularly sensitive to that sudden drop-off, which also lowers levels of the steroid, Dr. Meltzer-Brody said. Zurzuvae can be taken with other antidepressants, and, since it is prescribed for only a single 14-day course, some doctors use it as an adjunct or bridge to ease severe symptoms before longer-term use of antidepressants. Some patients who are breastfeeding have declined to take the drug because its penetration of breast milk has not yet been studied. Doctors said it is likely safe, but if patients are concerned, they might pump two weeks' worth of milk before starting Zurzuvae. Initial logistical hurdles in obtaining Zurzuvae frustrated doctors who said the delays undermined the purpose of a quick-acting medication. Some insurers initially set strict conditions for covering the drug, which has a list price of $15,900. Doctors said some insurers required patients to try other antidepressants first or to obtain prescriptions from psychiatrists, steps that went beyond the F.D.A. requirements for Zurzuvae. Joy Burkhard, chief executive of the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, said most insurers and Medicaid no longer have such barriers, but a few still require extra steps. Zurzuvae is not available in retail pharmacies, only specialty pharmacies that require patients to take various measures to validate insurance and delivery information, according to a spokeswoman for the drug's manufacturer, Sage Therapeutics, which markets Zurzuvae in partnership with Biogen. Chris Benecchi, the chief operating officer of Sage, which is expected to be acquired by Supernus Pharmaceuticals later this year, said Sage had worked to resolve logistical issues and prescriptions had increased. More than 10,000 orders have been sent to patients so far, Sage said, adding that about 80 percent of the prescriptions were issued by obstetrician-gynecologists, Sage said. 'The majority of patients are able to get the medication within days,' Mr. Benecchi said, adding that if patients encounter delays, Sage will ship Zurzuvae directly 'as rapidly as possible.' Quick access is crucial, doctors say. Hannah Ginther was hospitalized for a week last summer at U.N.C. Chapel Hill for symptoms that included obsessively worrying that her second child, then 10 months old, had a neurological disorder, even though doctors said the baby did not. 'I just couldn't get out of that loop of jumping to worst-case-scenario,' Ms. Ginther, 36, said at her home in Wilmington, N.C. 'I would throw up. I struggled to get out of bed, struggled to do basic, daily-living things.' When she was discharged from the hospital, doctors prescribed Zurzuvae, but her insurance rejected coverage, saying she would qualify only if she had developed postpartum depression in her last trimester of pregnancy, or within four weeks after childbirth, Dr. Patterson said. Ultimately, the hospital appealed to Sage, which sent the drug to Ms. Ginther at no cost. But the insurance hiccups had caused a two-week delay, during which, Ms. Ginther said, her symptoms 'spiraled again.' She was rehospitalized for nine days. Dr. Julia Riddle, a psychiatrist at U.N.C. Chapel Hill, said the second hospitalization might have been avoided if the Zurzuvae had arrived sooner. By the time it reached Ms. Ginther, she had been stabilized with other medications and intensive therapy. She said Zurzuvae didn't add much, except possibly further improving her mood and sleep. 'I think if we had been able to have access to Zurzuvae sooner, it would have shortened some of the pain, but they were able to find other medications that helped me,' Ms. Ginther said. She has since reduced her workload and continues taking Prozac. She has no intrusive thoughts and is 'doing much better,' she said. Effective for some, but not all As doctors try to determine which patients Zurzuvae can help, Jenny Sharma's experience illustrates the complexity. Ms. Sharma, 43, of San Diego, had a history of depression, especially linked to menstruation, but it was not as severe as the depression she experienced after giving birth in August 2023. Several months later, she began feeling suicidal and she said she also had 'homicidal thoughts toward the baby,' vivid and terrifying images. She sought help from Dr. Reminick's program, trying different medications over several months. While taking Zurzuvae, her symptoms improved. 'I felt wonderful,' she said. Dr. Reminick said Ms. Sharma's response to Zurzuvae was 'the best I've ever seen her.' But, she said, about 11 days into the 14-day regimen, Ms. Sharma started speaking haltingly and appeared to have 'cognitive difficulties, whole body shaking and twitching, confusion and dizziness.' Dr. Reminick said it was unclear whether those symptoms were linked to Zurzuvae or to another medication. Overall, she said she considered Zurzuvae a 'good fit' for Ms. Sharma, but her improvement didn't last. 'About a month later, my symptoms all came raging back,' Ms. Sharma said. Afraid that she would harm her baby, she visited an emergency room and then had several psychiatric hospitalizations and electroconvulsive therapy. Eventually, with other medications and some supplements, her mental health stabilized, although she occasionally experiences brief periods of depressive thoughts, she said. In clinical trials, patients helped by Zurzuvae continued doing well 45 days later. About half of those who took Zurzuvae were considered to be in remission. Dr. Riddle is following patients to see if the benefit can last longer. 'No one's illness is exactly the same,' Dr. Riddle said. So far 'no one has said they'd never take it again, it's just varying levels of how helpful it was.' For Kara Fiscus, 37, of Sacramento, the benefit has lasted more than a year. Her depression began about five months after her son was born in May 2023. She felt so overwhelmed that she wrote in her journal, 'I should kill myself.' Ms. Fiscus, a former N.F.L. cheerleader, said she had been prepared for some depression because she had mental health challenges in her teens and 20s. But her postpartum symptoms, especially anxiety over not producing enough breast milk and about her baby's weight, were worse than anything she had experienced. 'When you have a child and you're not able to meet their needs, it's no longer that your life is not meeting your own standards — you feel like an impediment to other people,' she said. Her obstetrician, Dr. Hailey MacNear, prescribed Zoloft and, when that didn't work, Prozac. But before enough time had passed to know whether Prozac could help, Ms. Fiscus began planning to take her own life. After calling Dr. MacNear, she entered a partial hospitalization program followed by intensive outpatient treatment, but continued thinking of ending her life. Then, Dr. MacNear prescribed Zurzuvae, which had just become available. On the third day, Ms. Fiscus realized, ''Oh my god, I haven't thought about killing myself in at least 20 minutes.'' And 'by Day 7, I was feeling really, really great.' Dr. MacNear said that not every patient experienced similar improvement and that some declined to try it because of the sedative effects. But she said Ms. Fiscus called her and 'cried with relief' after taking it. While taking Zurzuvae, Ms. Fiscus continued breastfeeding and returned to work, eventually becoming an official at a nonprofit. She still takes Prozac, but credits Zurzuvae with ending her thoughts of self-harm. She even saved the box. 'It's a comfort seeing it,' she said. 'There's hope in that box.' If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach a lifeline for help, or go to If you or someone you know is struggling with a perinatal mental health condition like postpartum depression, call the Postpartum Support International Helpline (1-800-944-4773) or go to
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sage to lay off most staff amid Supernus buyout
This story was originally published on BioPharma Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily BioPharma Dive newsletter. Sage Therapeutics will lay off 338 employees, the vast majority of its workforce, while in the process of being acquired by Supernus Pharmaceuticals, according to a Massachusetts regulatory filing. The move comes less than two weeks after Supernus announced it would buy the developer of the postpartum depression drug Zurzuvae for $561 million, a move that one analyst described as an 'unremarkable' outcome for a company that was once worth billions of dollars. The layoffs will be effective Aug. 22, according to the filing. It is unclear how the layoffs will impact ongoing R&D programs Supernus will acquire as part of its deal to buy Sage. Sage has seen its share of ups and downs in the 15 years since its launch. The biotech sought to develop medicines for a variety of brain disorders, including epilepsy, Huntington's disease and major depressive disorder. At its peak, Sage commanded a share price of nearly $200 apiece. It managed to develop and market an intravenous treatment for postpartum depression, Zulresso, but failed to generate notable sales. An oral drug Sage developed next, Zurzuvae, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2023. However, the agency rejected the company's application to permit wider use among people with MDD. Other hurdles included a string of clinical trial busts with its neurology programs. Last fall, Sage cut one-third of its workforce and, earlier this year, said it would pursue strategic alternatives after rebuffing an offer from Biogen to buy out the struggling company. Sage employed 353 full-time employees as of the beginning of February, according to an annual filing. Of those, nearly one-third, or 122 employees, were involved in research and development. Neither Sage nor Supernus responded to BioPharma Dive's request for comment. Recommended Reading Amarin, Fibrogen lay off staff as biotech cost cutting continues Sign in to access your portfolio
