25 February 2021 - - Results from the EMERGENT-1 Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating KarXT for the treatment of schizophrenia were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, UK-based clinical-stage biotherapeutics company PureTech Health plc's (NASDAQ: PRTC) (LSE: PRTC) Founded Entity, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company Karuna Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: KRTX), said.

The published manuscript titled "Muscarinic Cholinergic Receptor Agonist and Peripheral Antagonist for Schizophrenia" is available online and appears in the February 25, 2021 issue of NEJM.

According to the text, KarXT demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in primary and key secondary efficacy measures compared with placebo
Incidences of somnolence, weight gain and extrapyramidal symptoms were similar in KarXT and placebo treatment groups.

KarXT is in Phase 3 clinical development for the treatment of psychosis in adults with schizophrenia.

KarXT, a proprietary oral modulator of muscarinic cholinergic receptors, is Karuna's lead product candidate. It combines xanomeline, a novel muscarinic agonist, with trospium, an FDA-approved muscarinic antagonist that does not appreciably cross the blood-brain-barrier, to preferentially stimulate muscarinic receptors in the central nervous system.

This novel product candidate, if approved, has the potential to usher in a new treatment paradigm and dramatically impact patients with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders by providing a differentiated mechanism of action relative to current D2 dopamine and serotonin receptor-targeting antipsychotic drugs.

Karuna Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company driven to create and deliver medicines for people living with psychiatric and neurological conditions.