A Study to Compare the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of JNJ-42847922 Versus Quetiapine Extended-Release as Adjunctive Therapy to Antidepressants in Adult Participants With Major Depressive Disorder Who Have Responded Inadequately to Antidepressant Therapy

Janssen (J&J Innovative Medicine)

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 2

Conditions: Depressive Disorder, Major

Treatments: Drug: Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor (SNRI); Drug: Placebo Matching to JNJ-42847922; Drug: Placebo Matching to Quetiapine XR; Drug: JNJ-42847922; Drug: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI); Drug: Quetiapine XR

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Industry

Identifiers

NCT03321526

42847922MDD2002 (Other Identifier)

CR108394

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of flexibly dosed JNJ-42847922 (20 milligram [mg] or 40 mg) compared to flexibly dosed quetiapine extended-release (XR) (150 mg or 300 mg) as adjunctive therapy to an antidepressant drug in delaying time to all-cause discontinuation of study drug over a 6-months (24 weeks) treatment period, in participants with major depressive disorder (MDD) who have had an inadequate response to current antidepressant therapy with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI).

Enrollment: 107 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 70 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Male or female of non-childbearing potential (WONCBP) outpatients, aged 18 to 70 years (inclusive). A WONCBP is defined as: a).Postmenopausal: A postmenopausal state is defined as no menses for 12 months without an alternative medical cause. b). Permanently sterile: Permanent sterilization methods include hysterectomy, bilateral salpingectomy, bilateral tubal occlusion/ligation procedures, and bilateral oophorectomy. c). If reproductive status is questionable, additional evaluation should be considered
• Meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5th Edition (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD), without psychotic features, based upon clinical assessment and confirmed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 Axis I Disorders- Clinical Trials Version (SCID-CT). The length of the current depressive episode must be less than or equal to (<=) 18 months
• Have had an inadequate response to at least 1 but no more than 3 antidepressants, administered at an adequate dose and duration in the current episode of depression, as assessed by the Massachusetts General Hospital-Antidepressant Treatment Response Questionnaire (MGH-ATRQ). An inadequate response is defined as less than (<)50 percent (%) reduction in depressive symptom severity, as assessed by the MGH-ATRQ. An adequate trial is defined as an antidepressant treatment for at least 4 weeks at or above the minimum therapeutic dose, as specified in the MGH-ATRQ, for any particular antidepressant. The inadequate response must include the participant's current antidepressant treatment
• Be receiving monotherapy treatment for depressive symptoms with 1 of the following selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)/serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) antidepressants, in any formulation: citalopram, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluvoxamine, fluoxetine, milnacipran, levomilnacipran, paroxetine, sertraline, venlafaxine, desvenlafaxine, vilazodone, or vortioxetine at a stable dose (at or above the minimum therapeutic dose level) for at least 4 weeks, and for no greater than 12 months, at screening. Modification of an effective preexisting therapy should not be made for the explicit purpose of entering a participant into the study
• Have a Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total score greater than or equal to (>=)25 (performed by independent, centralized remote raters) at screening and must not demonstrate a clinically significant improvement (that is, an improvement of greater than (>)20% on their MADRS total score) from the screening to baseline visit
• Have a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18 and 35 kilogram per meter square (kg/m^2) inclusive (BMI equal to [=] weight/height^2)
• Must be otherwise healthy on the basis of physical examination, medical history, vital signs, 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG), and clinical laboratory tests performed at screening. If there are abnormalities, they must be consistent with the underlying illness in the study population. If the results of the clinical laboratory tests are outside the normal reference ranges, the participant may be included only if the investigator judges the abnormalities or deviations from normal to be not clinically significant or to be appropriate and reasonable for the population under study. This determination must be recorded in the participant's source documents and initialed by the investigator

Exclusion criteria

• Have Cushing's Disease, Addison's Disease, primary amenorrhea, or other evidence of significant medical disorders of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis
• Have a history of epilepsy, neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) or Tardive Dyskinesia
• Have a history of previous non-response to an adequate trial of quetiapine as an adjunctive treatment for MDD (adequate trial defined as >=150 mg for 4 weeks or more) and/or a history of lack of response to 3 or more adequate antidepressant treatments and/or a history or evidence of noncompliance with current antidepressant therapy
• Have taken a known moderate or strong inhibitor/inducer of cytochrome P450 (CYP)3A4 and CYP2C9 or a dual inhibitor/inducer of CYP3A4 and CYP2C9 within 14 days (or after washout that is, duration of 5 times the drug's half-life) before the first study drug administration on Day 1 until the follow-up visit. Fluvoxamine is a moderate CYP2C9 inhibitor and a mild CYP3A inhibitor, and will not be excluded from the study
• Have a history or current diagnosis of a psychotic disorder, bipolar disorder, intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, borderline personality disorder, somatoform disorders, or fibromyalgia

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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107 participants in 2 patient groups

JNJ-42847922

Experimental group

Description:

Participants will receive 20 mg of JNJ-42847922 as a starting dose and matching placebo (1 capsule of 20 mg JNJ-42847922 and 1 capsule of matching placebo) once daily for 14 days. After Day 14, if needed, JNJ-42847922 dose can be increased to 40 mg (2\*20 mg capsules) and flexible dose of JNJ-42847922 (20 or 40 mg) will be taken once daily until Day 167. Dose of JNJ-42847922 (20 or 40 mg) will be adjusted by investigator based on the participant's clinical response and tolerability. Participants will continue to take their baseline selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)/serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) antidepressant as a part of background therapy (at the same dose, without change, every day and at approximately the same time as prior to entering the study) throughout the screening, double-blind, and follow-up phases.

Treatment:

Drug: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI)

Drug: JNJ-42847922

Drug: Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor (SNRI)

Drug: Placebo Matching to JNJ-42847922

Quetiapine Extended-Release (XR)

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants will receive 1 capsule of quetiapine XR 50 mg along with 1 capsule of matching placebo once daily for 2 days, followed by 1 capsule of quetiapine XR 150 mg along with 1 capsule of matching placebo once daily from Day 3 to Day 14. After Day 14, if needed, quetiapine XR dose can be increased to 300 mg (2\*150 mg capsules) and flexible dose of quetiapine (150 or 300 mg) will be taken once daily until Day 167. Dose of quetiapine XR (150 or 300 mg) will be adjusted by investigator based on the participant's clinical response and tolerability. Participants will continue to take their baseline SSRI/SNRI antidepressant as a part of background therapy (at the same dose, without change, every day and at approximately the same time as prior to entering the study) throughout the screening, double-blind, and follow-up phases.

Treatment:

Drug: Quetiapine XR

Drug: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI)

Drug: Placebo Matching to Quetiapine XR

Drug: Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor (SNRI)