Vanda to stop developing anti-depressant, shares slip

(Reuters) – Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc said it would stop developing its experimental drug for major depressive disorder after it failed to meet the main goal of improving symptoms in patients in a clinical trial, sending its shares down about 8 percent. The company said patients treated with the drug tasimelteon and those on a placebo showed about a 40 percent reduction in symptoms, based on a standard scale that measures severity of depression. The trial, named Magellan, enrolled 507 patients in 43 sites in the United States, and was comparing a 20mg dose of the drug with a placebo. …