Objective: The corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) system is implicated in the pathogenesis of several psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder. This study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of CP-316,311, a selective nonpeptide antagonist of corticotropin-releasing hormone type 1 (CRH(1)) receptors, in the treatment of recurrent major depressive disorder.
Method: Of a total of 167 patients with recurrent major depression who were screened, 123 were randomly assigned to receive 400 mg of CP-316,311 twice daily, or 100 mg of sertraline daily, or placebo in a 6-week fixed-dose, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel-group, placebo- and sertraline-controlled trial. The primary efficacy analysis compared the change in score from baseline to endpoint on the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) between the CP-316,311 and placebo groups. A group sequential design was used to support early trial termination based on efficacy or futility at a planned interim analysis.
Results: The evaluable data set for the interim analysis included 28 patients in the CP-316,311 group, 31 patients in the placebo group, and 30 patients in the sertraline group. In the interim analysis, the change from baseline in the HAM-D score at the final visit was not significantly different between the CP-316,311 and placebo groups, while change from baseline between the sertraline and placebo groups was significantly different. Given these results, futility was declared for CP-316,311 and the trial was terminated.
Conclusions: Although CP-316,311 was safe and well tolerated in this study population, it failed to demonstrate efficacy in the treatment of major depression.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00143091.