Corcept shares slump after depression drug trial stopped

(Reuters) – Corcept Therapeutics Inc lost more than half its market value after the company said it would stop a late-stage trial of its depression drug to focus on more promising programs. The drug, mifepristone, was being developed for treating psychotic symptoms in patients with major depressive disorder. Mifepristone had failed to prove its effectiveness in three separate late-stage trials in 2006 and early 2007. “Given that mifepristone has failed to show efficacy in three prior Phase III studies, we had subscribed a low probability of success for this program and had placed no value on this program,” Janney Capital Markets analyst Kimberly Lee said in a note.