As of February 23, 2023, PureTech owned approximately 3.1% of Karuna’s outstanding stock. A founder of Karuna and co-inventor of the KarXT program, PureTech has a right to royalty payments of 3% of net sales of any commercialized product covered by the license agreement, as well as 20% sublicense income covered by the license agreement. The license agreement covers key territories including the United States, European Union, and Japan. PureTech is also eligible to receive certain milestone payments upon the achievement of regulatory approvals.
KarXT was invented by a team at PureTech, including its Chief Innovation Officer, Eric Elenko, Ph.D., who served as the founding CEO of Karuna Therapeutics. PureTech recruited key members of the current Karuna team, which subsequently executed the two successful registration enabling studies as well as other key advancements.
The full text of the announcement from Karuna is as follows:
Karuna Therapeutics Announces Positive Results from Phase 3 EMERGENT-3 Trial of KarXT in
Schizophrenia
Third positive registrational trial met its primary endpoint, with KarXT demonstrating an 8.4-point
reduction in PANSS total score compared to placebo at Week 5 (p<0.0001)
KarXT was generally well tolerated, with a side effect profile substantially consistent with previous trials
of KarXT in schizophrenia
Company is on track to submit a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food & Drug
Administration (FDA) in mid-2023, with a potential launch in the second half of 2024, if approved
Pre-NDA meeting is scheduled for early second quarter of 2023
Conference call and webcast to take place today at 8:00 a.m. ET
BOSTON — Mar. 20, 2023 — Karuna Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: KRTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company driven to create and deliver transformative medicines for people living with psychiatric and neurological conditions, today announced positive topline results from its Phase 3 EMERGENT-3 trial evaluating the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of its lead investigational therapy, KarXT (xanomeline-trospium) in adults with schizophrenia. The trial met its primary endpoint, with KarXT demonstrating a statistically significant and clinically meaningful 8.4-point reduction in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score compared to placebo (-20.6 KarXT vs. -12.2 placebo; p<0.0001) at Week 5 (Cohen’s d effect size of 0.60). Consistent with prior trials, KarXT demonstrated an early and sustained statistically significant reduction of symptoms from Week 2 (p<0.05) through the end of the trial as assessed by PANSS total score.
“KarXT has now demonstrated a robust and consistent reduction of symptoms across all three registrational trials, providing a compelling picture of the potential of KarXT in schizophrenia. With these data, we are one step closer to a potential treatment option that could provide the first new mechanism of action to treat schizophrenia in several decades,” said Bill Meury, president and chief executive officer of Karuna Therapeutics. “We look forward to working closely with the FDA as we focus our attention on