Intra-Cellular Therapies Shares Halted

Shares of Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc. were halted late Wednesday after the pharma company said results from a second clinical trial of a drug it was developing for schizophrenia stumbled into a high placebo response, unlike a control drug. In the trial, Intra-Cellular's drug "was statistically significantly better" than the control drug on key safety and tolerability, the company said in a statement. "Drug development in psychiatry faces numerous challenges and approved antipsychotics have had negative results as part of their clinical development programs," Intra-Cellular said. "We are committed and adequately resourced to continue the development of ITI-007 for the treatment of schizophrenia." The company said it planned to request a meeting with FDA officials to discuss issues around the regulatory path for the drug. It is not uncommon in the field of psychiatry for studies to be challenged by high placebo responses, it said. Shares of Intra-Cellular ended the regular trading session up 2%.