Targacept announces positive mecamylamine HCl data

US clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Targacept says that data suggest that mecamylamine HCl, a broad spectrum nicotinic antagonist, improves the symptoms of depression in patients who had not adequately responded to first-line citalopram therapy. The findings, which were presented at the summer meeting of the British Association for Psychopharmacology, are derived from the STAR*D trial, funded by the US National Institute for Mental Health.

Targacept explained that mecamylamine belongs to a new class of developmental antidepressants that target the brain's neuronal nicotinic receptors. Other drugs in this class being studied by the firm include TC-5214 and TC-2216, currently being examined in an ongoing Phase I assessment.

The trial, which recruited 450 patients, consisted of an open-label citalopram HBr phase followed by a double-blind placebo-controlled assessment in which the combined effects of mecamylamine HCl plus citalopram HBr, known as Tridmac, were evaluated.