Corporate Presentation
N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 0
Legal disclaimer
This presentation and other related material may contain a number of "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including statements regarding Karuna's expectation about any or all of the following: (i) the timing, progress and results of preclinical studies and clinical trials for KarXT and other product candidates it may develop, including statements regarding the timing of initiation and completion of studies or trials and related preparatory work and the period during which the results of the trials will become available; (ii) Karuna's research and development plans, including its plans to explore the therapeutic potential of KarXT in additional indications; (iii) Karuna's plans to develop and commercialize KarXT and other product candidates; (iv) the timing of and Karuna's ability to obtain and maintain marketing approvals for its product candidates; and (v) the rate and degree of market acceptance and clinical utility of any product candidates for which Karuna receives marketing approval. Forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as "could," "expects," "intends," "may," "plans," "potential," "should," "will," "would," or similar expressions and the negative of those terms. Karuna has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that it believes may affect its business, financial condition and results of operations. Although Karuna believes that such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and they are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk. Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified and some of which are beyond Karuna's control, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. These risks and uncertainties include, among others: outcomes of Karuna's planned and ongoing clinical trials and studies may not be favorable; one or more of Karuna's product candidate programs may not proceed as planned for technical, scientific or commercial reasons; availability and timing of results from preclinical studies and clinical trials; uncertainty about regulatory approval to conduct clinical trials or to market products; uncertainties regarding intellection property protection; risks relating to business interruptions resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; and those risk and uncertainties described under the heading "Risk Factors" in Karuna's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 24, 2020, the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 5, 2020, and in any other subsequent filings made by Karuna with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov. Existing and prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward- looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Karuna disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this presentation, other than to the extent required by law.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER | 2 | |
Karuna at-a-glance
Developing first-in- class therapeutics
- Leadership team with successful track record in neuroscience drug discovery and development
- Building a portfolio of differentiated assets led by KarXT, a novel asset with broad therapeutic applicability which enables near- and long-term opportunities
- Developing pipeline of novel drug candidates through in-house discovery efforts and in partnership with strategic collaborators
KarXT
Pipeline-in-a-Product
- KarXT is a new, unique and mechanistically differentiated therapeutic targeting CNS indications
- Evaluating KarXT in indications where standard of care is insufficient, including schizophrenia and dementia-relatedpsychosis
- KarXT demonstrated robust efficacy and was generally well-tolerated in large Phase 2 trial; differentiated safety and tolerability profile not associated with the most common problematic adverse events of current antipsychotic medications
- Advancing Phase 3 program for the treatment of psychosis in adults with schizophrenia by end of year
- Advanced formulation development
INTRODUCTION TO KARUNA | 3 | |
Leadership team
Deep expertise in neuroscience and drug development
Steve Paul, M.D. | Andrew Miller, Ph.D. | Troy Ignelzi | Stephen Brannan, M.D. |
Chairman and CEO | Founder and COO | CFO | CMO |
Former EVP and president at Eli | Founder and inventor of KarXT; | Former CFO at scPharmaceuticals | Former Therapeutic Head of |
Lilly Research Labs; Co-founder, | Former VP at PureTech; 2020 | and Juventas; Finance, BD, | Neuroscience at Takeda; senior |
board member at Sage | Emerging Pharma Leaders from | operations and sales executive at | positions at Novartis (Exelon patch), |
Therapeutics & Voyager | Pharmaceutical Executive; 40 | Esperion Therapeutics, Insys | Eli Lilly (Cymbalta), Cyberonics, & |
Therapeutics; Former scientific | under 40 innovators award from | Therapeutics and Eli Lilly | Forum Pharmaceuticals |
director of NIMH | MedTech Boston; Director and | ||
Former COO at Entrega |
INTRODUCTION TO KARUNA | 4 | |
Pipeline
Advancing target-directed & target-agnostic discovery efforts & clinical programs
KarXT
Other
INDICATION | DISCOVERY / | PHASE 1 | PHASE 2 | PHASE 3 | UPCOMING |
PRECLINICAL | MILESTONE | ||||
Schizophrenia | Initiate Ph. 3 Program | ||||
Psychosis | YE 2020 | ||||
Schizophrenia | Initiate Ph. 2 trial | ||||
Psychosis in adults with an inadequate | Following initiation of trials | ||||
response to standard of care* | within Ph. 3 program | ||||
Schizophrenia | Ph. 2 ready | ||||
Negative and cognitive symptoms | |||||
Dementia-related Psychosis | Ph. 1b topline data | ||||
Early 2Q 2021 | |||||
Undisclosed | Initiate IND-enabling | ||||
Muscarinic-targeted drug candidate | studies | ||||
Undisclosed | Candidate declaration | ||||
Target-agnostic drug candidate** | |||||
The Company continues to monitor the impact of COVID-19 across all clinical trials and will provide updates on enrollment and completion timelines as appropriate
*Trail to evaluate KarXT when added to standard of care; **In collaboration with PsychoGenics
PIPELINE 5
Significant unmet need in large patient populations
Affecting nearly 4M people with psychosis in the U.S.
Schizophrenia | Dementia-related Psychosis |
• Positive (psychosis), negative and cognitive | • Antipsychotics prescribed despite black box |
symptom domains | warning for increased morbidity and mortality |
- Currently approved antipsychotics treat psychosis only and offer modest efficacy in many patients
- Significant side effects including movement disorders, weight gain, sedation, etc.
- >21M patients with schizophrenia worldwide, with ~2.7M in the U.S.
- No approved medicines for treatment of psychosis in Alzheimer's disease, the largest underlying cause of dementia-related psychosis
- Dementia affects ~8.4M people in the U.S., with ~1.2M experiencing symptoms of psychosis
INTRODUCTION TO KARUNA | 6 | |
Antipsychotics: Blockbuster sales, but little innovation
- Today's drugs rely on same mechanism as antipsychotic drugs of the 1950s
(first antipsychotic drug, chlorpromazine, discovered in 1952)
- Sales of antipsychotic drugs were >$11B in 2015 and are expected to be >$14B by 2025 worldwide
- Despite limited efficacy, severe side effects, and the availability of generic medicines, antipsychotic drugs such as Zyprexa, Seroquel and Abilify each achieved >$5B peak sales worldwide
- Antipsychotics are a protected Medicare Part D class
1980 | 2020 | |||||||||||||
INTRODUCTION TO KARUNA | 7 | |
Rationale for KarXT
8
Unrealized potential of muscarinic receptors
Muscarinic receptors in the | Many companies pursued muscarinic | A novel approach is needed to | ||||
brain are promising targets for | drug development, but were stymied | realize potential of muscarinic | ||||
schizophrenia and dementia- | by side effects caused by peripheral | agonists | ||||
related psychosis | muscarinic receptors | |||||
RATIONALE FOR KarXT | 9 | |
KarXT: Proprietary lead product candidate
xanomeline
(muscarinic agonist)
-
Human proof-of-concept in double-blind,placebo-controlled trials in schizophrenia and
Alzheimer's disease - Trials enrolled over 800 patients including 68 elderly patients for
≥ 1 year - Exclusively licensed from Eli Lilly
KarXT | trospium chloride | ||
(muscarinic antagonist) | |||
• Does not meaningfully cross | |||
the blood-brain barrier, limiting | |||
xanomeline + trospium chloride | effects to peripheral tissues | ||
• No known metabolic overlap | |||
KarXT is designed to | with xanomeline | ||
maintain efficacy of xanomeline | • Generic drug for overactive | ||
while ameliorating | bladder used since the 1960s |
its cholinergic adverse events
Sources: Bodick et al. 1997; Shekhar et al. 2008
RATIONALE FOR KarXT | 10 | |
Selective activation of muscarinic receptors in the brain
System | Potential Impact on Symptoms | Commentary | |||||||||||||
xanomeline + trospium = | KarXT | ||||||||||||||
Central Nervous | N/A | Improvement in | |||||||||||||
System | psychosis and cognition | ||||||||||||||
Salivation | |||||||||||||||
Glands | |||||||||||||||
Sweat Glands | Tolerability from | ||||||||||||||
neutralization of | |||||||||||||||
GI Tract | peripheral activation | ||||||||||||||
Bladder
Increase Activity | Decrease Activity | Offsetting Effect | ||
RATIONALE FOR KarXT | 11 | |
KarXT in neuropsychiatry
Multiple positive efficacy and safety studies supporting further development
Three double-blind,placebo-controlled trials supporting therapeutic benefit of xanomeline and KarXT
- KarXT Phase 2 (EMERGENT-1) trial in adults with schizophrenia
- Phase 2 trial in adults with schizophrenia with xanomeline alone
- Phase 2 trial in elderly subjects with Alzheimer's disease with xanomeline alone
Large existing safety database with xanomeline and KarXT
- >1000 subjects enrolled in studies with KarXT or xanomeline across 20 human clinical trials
- 68 elderly subjects with Alzheimer's disease treated with xanomeline for at least one year
- Long-termpreclinical safety data with xanomeline, including 2-year carcinogenicity trials
Multiple clinical trials demonstrating robust efficacy and a large existing
safety database support ongoing clinical development of KarXT in
neuropsychiatric disorders
KarXT IN NEUROPSYCHIATRY | 12 | |
KarXT in Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Chronic, serious and often disabling brain disorder affecting how a person thinks, feels and behaves
Symptoms of schizophrenia generally fall into three categories:
Positive Symptoms | Negative Symptoms | Cognitive Symptoms |
• Hallucinations | • Flat, constricted affect | • Impaired executive function |
• Delusions | • Social withdrawal | • Memory deficits |
• Confused thoughts and speech | • Loss of motivation | • Reduced processing speed |
KarXT IN SCHIZOPHRENIA | 14 | |
KarXT in addressing current unmet needs
THE UNMET NEED
- Today's standard of care relies on same mechanism as drugs of the 1950s
- A substantial population of patients achieve a partial, or inadequate, response to atypical antipsychotics
- Current therapies do not address negative and cognitive symptoms; in some cases, current therapies may worsen cognitive symptoms in patients
- In many patients, approved antipsychotics offer only modest efficacy and patients experience significant side effects
THE KarXT OPPORTUNITY
- Novel mechanism of action not mediated via dopamine or serotonin; distinct from currently available therapies
- Potential to address positive, negative and cognitive symptoms as monotherapy or in conjunction with standard of care
- EMERGENT-1demonstrated robust efficacy across primary and key secondary outcome measures on positive and negative symptoms, and improvements in cognition in exploratory endpoint analysis
- Generally well tolerated and not associated with the most common problematic adverse events of current antipsychotic medications in trials conducted to date
KarXT IN SCHIZOPHRENIA | 15 | |
EMERGENT Program
On track to initiate Phase 3 program by end of 2020
EMERGENT-1 | EMERGENT-2 | EMERGENT-3 | EMERGENT-4 | EMERGENT-5 | |
Phase | Phase 2 | Phase 3 | Phase 3 | Phase 3 | Phase 3 |
Evaluate efficacy and | Evaluate efficacy and | Evaluate efficacy and | Evaluate long-term | Evaluate long-term | |
Objective | safety of KarXT | safety of KarXT | safety of KarXT | safety and tolerability | safety and |
compared to placebo | compared to placebo | compared to placebo | of KarXT | tolerability of KarXT | |
Five-week, 1:1 | Five-week, 1:1 | Five-week, 1:1 | |||
randomized, flexible- | randomized, flexible- | randomized, flexible- | 52-week,open-label, | 52-week, open- | |
dose, double-blind, | dose, double-blind, | dose, double-blind, | outpatient extension | ||
Design | label, outpatient | ||||
placebo-controlled | placebo-controlled | placebo-controlled | of EMERGENT-2 | ||
trial | |||||
inpatient trial in 182 | inpatient trial in ~250 | inpatient trial in ~250 | and EMERGENT-3 | ||
adults in the U.S. | adults in the U.S. | adults the U.S. & ex-U.S. | |||
Status | Complete (Nov. 2019) | Initiate YE 2020 | Initiate 1H 2021 | Rollover from | Initiate 1H 2021 |
EMERGENT- 2 & 3 | |||||
EMERGENT-1, one successful Phase 3 efficacy and safety trial, and additional safety data to meet regulatory
requirements, would be acceptable to support a New Drug Application (NDA) filing
KarXT IN SCHIZOPHRENIA | 16 | |
EMERGENT-1 trial design overview
Same fundamental trial design used in registrational studies of other antipsychotic drugs
Treatment Period
Randomized, double-blind,placebo-controlled inpatient phase
Days 1 - 35
Screening Period | Flexible dosing | |||
Washout of prior oral lithium | ||||
and/or antipsychotics | 50/20^ KarXT BID | 100/20^ KarXT BID | 100/20^ KarXT BID | |
>2 weeks | Optional increase to 125/30^ | KarXT BID* | ||
Days 1 - 2 | Days 3 - 7 | |||
Days 8 - 35 | ||||
KarXT (n=90)
R
Placebo (n=92)
KEY | |
^ xanomeline/trospium (mg/mg) | |
* titration based only on tolerability | |
Start of trial | |
End of trial (Week 5) | |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03697252 | R Patients randomized |
EMERGENT-1 RESULTS | 17 | |
Robust results across efficacy endpoints
Prespecified Outcome Measures | KarXT vs. Placebo |
P-value (Week 5) | |
PRIMARY ENDPOINT | |
Change from baseline in PANSS total score | <0.0001 |
SECONDARY ENDPOINTS | |
Change from baseline in PANSS-positive | <0.0001 |
Change from baseline in PANSS-negative | <0.001 |
Change from baseline in PANSS Marder negative symptoms factor | <0.001 |
CGI-S frequency counts | <0.001 |
Proportion of CGI-S responders (CGI-S ≤ 2) | =0.151 |
All efficacy analyses performed using the modified intent-to-treat (mITT) analysis set, defined as all randomized participants who received
at least one dose of study medication and had a baseline and at least one post-baseline PANSS assessment
Abbreviations: PANSS: Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale; CGI-S: Clinical Global Impression Severity
EMERGENT-1 RESULTS | 18 | |
PANSS total score at week 5
Primary endpoint
Baseline | ± SEM) | 0 | |||
-5 | |||||
PANSS Change from | (LS mean change | ||||
-10 | **** | ||||
**** | |||||
-15 | **** | ||||
Placebo | KarXT | ||||
-20 | |||||
Baseline | Week 2 | Week 4 | Week 5 | ||
mITT population | ****p<0.0001 |
Clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement in total PANSS vs. placebo
- 11.6-pointimprovement at week 5, with p<0.0001 (-17.4 KarXT vs. -5.9 placebo)
- Statistical separation at every assessed time point
- Cohen's d effect size of 0.75
EMERGENT-1 RESULTS | 19 | |
Favorable Cohen's d effect size
COHEN'S d | NUMBER OF | NUMBER OF | PEAK SALES | YEAR | ||
STUDIES | PATIENTS | APPROVED | ||||
KarXT | 0.75 | 1 | 182 | - | - | |
Risperidone | 0.58 | 15 | 3,036 | >$3B | 1993 | |
Therapy | ||||||
Olanzapine | 0.55 | 19 | 3,298 | >$5B | 1996 | |
Quetiapine | 0.43 | 8 | 2,140 | >$6B | 1997 | |
Aripiprazole | 0.39 | 9 | 1,761 | >$9B | 2002 | |
Lurasidone | 0.35 | 7 | 2,043 | >$3B | 2010 | |
KarXT Phase 2 effect size of 0.75 compares favorably with meta-analysis
of historical trials of the most commonly used medicines
Source: Leucht et al. 2017 Am J Psych
EMERGENT-1 RESULTS | 20 | |
PANSS Positive, Negative, Marder and CGI-S
Secondary endpoints
A. PANSSP | B. PANSSN |
C. PANSS Marder Negative | D. CGI-S |
Clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement on secondary endpoints:
- PANSS positive subscale (Panel A)
- PANSS negative subscale (Panel B)
- PANSS Marder negative factor score (Panel C)
- CGI-Sscore (Panel D)
- Note that Panel D is not the prespecified analysis; figure shows analysis of CGI-S as a continuous variable
- Prespecified secondary endpoint 5 was responder analysis, defined as % of CGI-S responders (endpoint CGI-S score of 1 or 2)
- Percentage of responders for KarXT compared with placebo: 5.6% vs.1.4%, p=0.151
Key: *p<0.05; **p<0.01, ***p<0.001, ****p<0.0001
EMERGENT-1 RESULTS | 21 | |
CGI-S: categorical analyses
Secondary endpoints (cont.)
Baseline Distribution
Percentage of Patients
Percentage of Patients
80 | KarXT | Placebo | Clinically meaningful and statistically significant | |||||||||||
60 | ||||||||||||||
improvement on CGI-S: categorical analyses | ||||||||||||||
40 | CGI-S frequency count comparison: | |||||||||||||
• P<0.001 at endpoint using non-parametric comparison of KarXT vs. | ||||||||||||||
20 | placebo (Mann-Whitney Wilcoxon test) | |||||||||||||
• This was the prespecified analysis | ||||||||||||||
0 | • Statistical separation at every assessed time point (week 2, 4 and 5) | |||||||||||||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||||||||
CGI-S Score | At baseline: | |||||||||||||
Week 5 Distribution | • Percentage of patients with scores 5 or 6 for KarXT compared to | |||||||||||||
80 | placebo: 84% vs. 80% | |||||||||||||
60 | At endpoint: | |||||||||||||
40 | • Percentage of patients with scores rated 5-7 for KarXT compared to | |||||||||||||
placebo: 33% vs. 60% | ||||||||||||||
20 | • Percentage of patients rated mildly ill or better (scores rated 1, 2, or 3) | |||||||||||||
for KarXT compared to placebo: 38% vs.11% | ||||||||||||||
0 | ||||||||||||||
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||||||||
CGI-S Score |
CGI-S score legend: 1 = normal, 2 = borderline ill, 3 = mildly ill, 4 = moderately ill, 5 = markedly ill, 6 = severely ill, 7 = extremely ill
EMERGENT-1 RESULTS | 22 | |
Cognition
Exploratory endpoint
Exploratory endpoint analyses show trends towards improvements in cognition for KarXT relative to placebo (Figure 1), with larger benefit seen in patients with greater cognitive impairment at baseline (Figure 2)
- Trial recruited based on psychosis; half of patients had cognitive performance >1 SD below age matched controls
- Post-hoc subgroup analysis of patients with greater impairment at baseline show larger benefit (Figure 2)
- Cohen's d=0.56, p=0.03 for 1/2 of patients w/greatest impairment
- Cohen's d=0.83, p=0.02 for 1/3 of patients w/greatest impairment
Assessments in longer-term studies or patients with stable psychosis needed to further evaluate cognitive symptoms
- Plans to further evaluate cognition in the EMERGENT program trials via prespecified subgroup of patients with high baseline cognitive impairment
- Previous xanomeline trial in Alzheimer's disease showed peak cognitive benefit, similar to donepezil (Aricept®), after 2-3 months of treatment in trial completers (Bodick et al)
*Data presented at 33rd ECNP Congress (Sept. 12 - 15, 2020)
Figure 1: Cognitive performance results*
Cognitive Test | Statistic | Value | ||
(KarXT vs. placebo) | ||||
Composite Score | p-value | 0.11 | ||
Cohen's d | 0.24 | |||
Detection | p-value | 0.07 | ||
Cohen's d | 0.28 | |||
Pediatric Groton Maze | p-value | 0.47 | ||
Learning | Cohen's d | 0.11 | ||
Identification | p-value | 0.40 | ||
Cohen's d | 0.13 | |||
International | p-value | 0.35 | ||
Cohen's d | 0.14 | |||
Shopping List | ||||
One-Back Speed | p-value | 0.35 | ||
Cohen's d | 0.16 | |||
One-Back Accuracy | p-value | 0.92 | ||
Cohen's d | -0.02 | |||
Figure 2: Composite score analysis stratification by baseline impairment
Statistic | Impairment Median Split | Impairment Tertile Split* | ||||
(KarXT vs. placebo) | High | Low | Highest | Middle | Lowest | |
p-value | 0.53 | 0.02 | 0.52 | 0.87 | ||
0.03 | ||||||
Cohen's d | 0.56 | 0.13 | 0.83 | 0.19 | 0.04 | |
EMERGENT-1 RESULTS | 23 | |
Summary of safety and tolerability
Well-tolerated with a discontinuation rate equivalent to placebo
Overall completion rate similar between KarXT and placebo (80%)
- The number of discontinuations due to TEAEs was equal in each treatment group (KarXT n=2; placebo n=2)
- All TEAEs were mild or moderate, with the exception of one serious AE: one patient on KarXT discontinued treatment, subsequently sought hospital care for worsening psychosis
- Most common AEs (>5%) were all mild or moderate in severity and did not lead to any discontinuations
- BP and QTc similar to placebo; 5.5 bpm peak mean placebo-adjusted resting HR increase with downward trend after day 8; no syncope
Dose escalation on KarXT was high and similar to placebo
- Dose escalation based on tolerability
- 91% of KarXT subjects escalated to 125/30 KarXT (vs. 97% on placebo)
- 4% percent de-escalated back to 100/20 KarXT dose (vs. 1% on placebo)
Adverse Events (AEs) and Safety During the Treatment Period
KarXT (n=89) | Placebo (n=90) | |||
number (%) | number (%) | |||
Patients with any treatment-emergent | 48 | (53.9%) | 39 | (43.3%) |
adverse events (TEAE) | ||||
Patients with a serious TEAE | 1 | (1.1%) | 0 (0%) | |
Patient with a severe TEAE | 1 | (1.1%) | 1 | (1.1%) |
Patients with a TEAE leading to | 2 | (2.2%) | 2 | (2.2%) |
withdrawal | ||||
AEs ≥ 5% | ||||
Constipation | 15 | (16.9%) | 3 | (3.3%) |
Nausea | 15 | (16.9%) | 4 | (4.4%) |
Dry mouth | 8 (9.0%) | 1 (1.1%) | ||
Dyspepsia | 8 | (9.0%) | 4 | (4.4%) |
Vomiting | 8 | (9.0%) | 4 | (4.4%) |
Headache | 6 | (6.7%) | 5 | (5.6%) |
Somnolence | 5 | (5.6%) | 4 | (4.4%) |
Safety population received ≥1 dose study medication
EMERGENT-1 RESULTS | 24 | |
Tolerability comparison to historical xanomeline trials
Clinically significant improvement observed in the most common xanomeline AEs
Adverse Event
Excessive sweating
Vomiting
Nausea
Excessive salivation
Diarrhea
Placebo-adjusted cholinergic AE rates
xanomeline | KarXT | |
6-month AD trial | 3-week schizophrenia trial | EMERGENT-1 |
(n=87, 225 mg/d) | (n=10, 225 mg/d) | (n=90, 200/40 mg/d or 250/60 mg/d) |
71% | 20% | 1.1% |
34% | 50% | 4.6% |
32% | 30% | 12.5% |
24% | 10% | 0% |
15% | 20% | (2.2%) |
Sources: Bodick et al. 1997; Shekhar et al. 2008; Abbreviations: AD = Alzheimer's disease; SZ: schizophrenia
EMERGENT-1 RESULTS | 25 | |
Rates of adverse events over course of trial
Majority of the most common KarXT-related AEs decreased over the course of the trial
Percentage of Patients
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
Nausea
Placebo-adjusted nausea
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Treatment Week
Percentage of Patients
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
Vomiting
Placebo-adjusted vomiting
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Treatment Week
Percentage of Patients
Dry Mouth
12%
10% | Placebo-adjusted dry mouth | |||
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Treatment Week
Most cholinergic and anticholinergic AEs associated with KarXT treatment decreased over the course of the trial
- Rates of nausea, vomiting and dry mouth consistently decreased to rates near placebo by week 5
- All cholinergic and anticholinergic AEs were mild or moderate in severity and did not lead to discontinuations
- Constipation and dyspepsia rates remained essentially constant (data not shown)
Data represent % of subjects with AEs as an AE at any point in that study week interval (safety population: KarXT n=89, placebo n=90)
EMERGENT-1 RESULTS | 26 | |
KarXT was not associated with the most common problematic adverse events of current antipsychotic medications
KarXT was not associated with any weight- related changes
- KarXT similar to placebo in mean change in weight, mean change in BMI, % patients with >%7 weight change, and reported AEs of weight increased
KarXT was not associated with somnolence or sedation
- Rates of somnolence and sedation similar to placebo
Weight Related Observations
KarXT | Placebo | |
(n=89) | (n=90) | |
Reported AE of weight increased - number (%) | 3 (3.4%) | 4 (4.4%) |
Weight change from baseline to Week 5 - kg ± SD | 1.5 ± 2.8 | 1.1 ± 3.5 |
Patients >7% weight increase at Week 5 - number (%) | 2 (2.2%) | 5 (5.6%) |
BMI change from baseline to Week 5 - kg/m2 ± SD | 0.5 ±1.0 | 0.4 ± 1.2 |
Sedation and Somnolence
Reported AE of Somnolence - number (%) | 5 (5.6%) | 4 (4.4%) |
Reported AE of Sedation - number (%) | 2 (2.2%) | 2 (2.2%) |
KarXT was not associated with EPS
- Mean changes similar for KarXT and placebo on the Barnes akathisia scale and Simpson-Angus scale
- 3 patients who reported Akathisia in the KarXT arm all resolved spontaneously without changes in study drug and all patients scored a 0 at all time points on the Barnes akathisia scale
Extrapyramidal Symptoms (EPS)
Akathisia - number (%) | 3 (3.4%) | 0 (0%) |
Restlessness - number (%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (1.1%) |
Simpson-Angus score mean change | -0.1± 0.7 | -0.1± 0.6 |
from baseline to week 5 | ||
Barnes akathisia mean change | 0.0 ± 0.2 | 0.0 ± 0.4 |
from baseline to week 5 | ||
All analysis on safety population; received ≥1 dose study medication
EMERGENT-1 RESULTS | 27 | |
Additional therapeutic opportunities in schizophrenia
KarXT in conjunction with standard of care for the treatment of psychosis in adults who have an inadequate response to current therapies
- A substantial population of patients achieve a partial, or inadequate, response to atypical antipsychotics
- Company plans to evaluate KarXT when dosed in conjunction with standard of care following the initiation of the Phase 3 EMERGENT trials
- Data intended to support a supplemental NDA filing, assuming the successful development of KarXT as a monotherapy for the treatment of adults with schizophrenia
Opportunity to investigate ability of KarXT to address negative and cognitive symptoms as part of ongoing data collection
- KarXT demonstrated improvement on negative symptoms and on cognition in patients with high cognitive impairment in EMERGENT-1 trial; additional data collection to inform next steps in these indications
Source: Miyamoto et al., 2002, p. 775
KarXT IN SCHIZOPHRENIA | 28 | |
KarXT in
Dementia-related
Psychosis
KarXT opportunity in DRP
THE UNMET NEED
-
Dementia is characterized by the loss of cognitive functioning
- including thinking, remembering and reasoning - and behavioral abilities to an extent that interferes with the ability to perform everyday activities - Dementia is caused by a variety of different diseases including Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body dementia, vascular dementia, frontotemporal dementia and Parkinson's disease dementia
- Dementia affects ~8.4M people in the U.S. Despite the prevalence, only 40% of those affected are diagnosed, with ~1.2M experiencing symptoms of psychosis
- Psychosis in patients with dementia is currently treated with antipsychotics, despite black-boxwarnings for increased risk of death in the elderly
THE KarXT OPPORTUNITY
- Novel mechanism of action not mediated via dopamine or serotonin; distinct from currently available therapies
- Xanomeline demonstrated robust, dose-dependentremission of multiple psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations and delusions, in Phase 2 placebo-controlled trial in Alzheimer's disease patients
- Xanomeline was also observed to reduce the emergence of psychotic symptoms, including agitation, in patients who did not have psychotic symptoms at baseline
- In addition, potential applicability in addressing behavioral, psychological and cognitive symptoms
- Currently conducting a Phase 1b trial in healthy elderly volunteers to determine the optimal dose of KarXT (ratios of xanomeline and trospium) to inform Phase 2 trial of KarXT in dementia-related psychosis
KarXT IN DRP | 30 | |
Phase 1b healthy elderly trial
Foundation for Phase 2 DRP trial
Dose-ranging trial to select optimal KarXT dose for Phase 2 trial in DRP
- Goals of trial:
- Demonstrate that volunteers can tolerate the exposure levels that showed antipsychotic benefit in previous Lilly AD trial (150 mg and 225 mg per day of xanomeline)
- Select dosing and titration scheme for Phase 2 DRP trial
- Similar design to previous Phase 1 multiple dose optimization trial in healthy volunteers used to select dosing for EMERGENT-1
- Flexible-dosed,multiweek design to determine highest tolerated dose on an individual patient basis
- Evaluating different dosing and titration schedule on a cohort by cohort basis; each cohort to consist of
16 subjects with 3:1 randomization (KarXT or placebo)
KarXT IN DRP | 31 | |
Xanomeline in Alzheimer's disease
Findings show therapeutic benefit and inform KarXT DRP program
Trial Design
- Randomized, double-blind, placebo- controlled, 6-month trial in 343 Alzheimer's disease patients
- Patients randomized (3:1) to receive one of three doses of xanomeline (75, 150, and 225 mg/d) or placebo
- Endpoints
- Co-primary:ADAS-Cog and CIBIC+
- Secondary: Behavior (ADSS, includes psychotic symptoms) and Nurses' Observation Scale for Geriatric Patients
Key Findings
- Patients treated with xanomeline were observed to have dose-dependentdecreases in multiple psychotic symptoms and related behaviors, including hallucinations, delusions and agitation, as compared to patients on placebo
- Responses seen as early as two to three weeks after commencement of dosing with xanomeline
- Xanomeline was also observed to reduce the emergence of psychotic symptoms over the course of the six-month trial in patients who did not have psychotic symptoms at the initiation of the trial
- Cognitive benefit on ADAS-cog similar to donepezil (Aricept®) in completers analysis
Source: Bodick et al. 1997
KarXT IN DRP | 32 | |
Xanomeline in Alzheimer's disease
Significant remission of psychotic symptoms observed
% of patients with symptom at baseline whose symptoms stopped during treatment (ITT analysis)
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
p=0.003 | p=0.020 | p=0.063 | p=0.063 | p=0.011 | p=0.066 | p=0.003 |
(p=0.008) | (p=0.005) | (p=0.021) | (p=0.028) | (p=0.017) | (p=0.012) | (p=0.015) |
Hallucinations | Compulsivness | Delusions | Suspiciousness | Vocal Outbursts | Mood Swings | Unsafe Use of |
Appliances |
p value is 225 mg/d xanomeline vs. placebo | xanomeline alone | ||||||||
(p value is dose-response analysis) | Placebo | 75 mg/d | 150 mg/d | 225 mg/d | |||||
Source: Bodick et al. 1997
KarXT IN DRP | 33 | |
Xanomeline in Alzheimer's disease
Significant prevention of psychosis onset observed
% of patients who developed symptom during trial (ITT analysis)
60% | p=0.011 | p=0.001 | p=0.001 | p=0.002 | p=0.017 | p=0.001 | p=0.013 | |
(p=0.012) | (p=0.001) | (p=0.003) | (p=0.002) | (p=0.019) | (p<0.001) | (p=0.004) | ||
50% | ||||||||
40% | ||||||||
30% | ||||||||||||||||
20% | ||||||||||||||||
10% | ||||||||||||||||
0% | ||||||||||||||||
Hallucinations | Delusions | Suspiciousness | Vocal | Agitation | Wandering | Fearfulness | ||||||||||
Outburst | ||||||||||||||||
p value is 225 mg/d xanomeline vs. placebo | xanomeline alone | |||||||||||||||
(p value is dose-response analysis) | Placebo | 75 mg/d | 150 mg/d | 225 mg/d | ||||||||||||
Source: Bodick et al. 1997
KarXT IN DRP | 34 | |
Pipeline
Advancing target-directed & target-agnostic discovery efforts & clinical programs
KarXT
Other
INDICATION | DISCOVERY / | PHASE 1 | PHASE 2 | PHASE 3 | UPCOMING |
PRECLINICAL | MILESTONE | ||||
Schizophrenia | Initiate Ph. 3 Program | ||||
Psychosis | YE 2020 | ||||
Schizophrenia | Initiate Ph. 2 trial | ||||
Psychosis in adults with an inadequate | Following initiation of trials | ||||
response to standard of care* | within Ph. 3 program | ||||
Schizophrenia | Ph. 2 ready | ||||
Negative and cognitive symptoms | |||||
Dementia-related Psychosis | Ph. 1b topline data | ||||
Early 2Q 2021 | |||||
Undisclosed | Initiate IND-enabling | ||||
Muscarinic-targeted drug candidate | studies | ||||
Undisclosed | Candidate declaration | ||||
Target-agnostic drug candidate** | |||||
The Company continues to monitor the impact of COVID-19 across all clinical trials and will provide updates on enrollment and completion timelines as appropriate
*Trail to evaluate KarXT when added to standard of care; **In collaboration with PsychoGenics
PIPELINE 35
Financial information
$344.9M
CASH ON HAND 1
AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2020
Current funding supports:
- Filing of an NDA with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of psychosis in schizophrenia, including planned trials in the EMERGENT clinical program
- Completion of Phase 1b healthy elderly trial and potential Phase 2 trial for the treatment of DRP
- Continued investment into pipeline expansion, including evaluating KarXT in patients who have an inadequate response to current standard of care
Cash expected to fund operations for at least the next three years
1Includes cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments
Analyst Coverage
Firm | Analyst | ||
Citigroup Global Markets | Mohit Bansal | ||
Goldman Sachs & Co. | Salveen Richter, CFA | ||
Guggenheim Securities | Yatin Suneja | ||
H.C. Wainwright | Raghuram Selvaraju, Ph.D. | ||
JMP Securities | Jason N. Butler, Ph.D. | ||
Mizuho | Vamil Divan, M.D. | ||
Oppenheimer | Jay Olson, CFA | ||
Stifel | Paul Matteis | ||
Wedbush Securities | Laura Chico, Ph.D. | ||
Wells Fargo Securities | Jacob Hughes | ||
William Blair | Myles Minter, Ph.D. | ||
FINANCIAL INFORMATION | 36 | ||
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Karuna Therapeutics Inc. published this content on 05 November 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 05 November 2020 11:26:06 UTC