Piper Jaffray analyst Danielle Brill remains bullish on shares of Sage Therapeutics after hosting a call with the key opinion leader who published the bearish New England Journal of Medicine editorial on SAGE-217's Phase 2 major depressive disorder data. The analyst came away with "incrementally higher conviction" on her positive outlook for SAGE-217 and its upcoming Phase 3 Mountain trial data. The expert was unfamiliar with SAGE-217's positive postpartum depression data or the Phase 3 development program, Brill tells investors in a research note. Further, the key opinion leader believes the Mountain study has a greater likelihood of success than the failed Phase 3 study of aprepitant in major depressive disorder that was cited in his editorial, adds the analyst. Brill says the leader did not highlight any new risks for the Mountain study that she hadn't previously considered. The analyst remains bullish on Sage Therapeutics into the readout in Q4 or Q1 and keeps an Overweight rating on the shares with a $206 price target.

Oppenheimer analyst Jay Olson lowered the firm's price target on Sage Therapeutics to $17 from $25 and keeps a Perform rating on the shares. The firm notes Phase 2 PRECEDENT topline results showed no difference in efficacy for SAGE-718 vs. placebo in PD-MCI patients, and it suspects investors are now discounting nearly the entire value of SAGE-718 by assuming direct read-across to ongoing studies in HD and AD MCI that read-out later this year. However, while Oppenheimer agrees with the negative read-across, it thinks it's limited by several distinct factors for the HD and AD studies, including differences in disease states driving MCI, inclusion criteria, sample size, endpoints, and duration of treatment.

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H.C. Wainwright analyst Douglas Tsao reiterates a Neutral rating on Sage Therapeutics after the company discontinued SAGE-718 in Parkinson's after the PRECEDENT study showed no benefit. The results are disappointing and, more importantly, raise concern about the upcoming top-line data readouts for SAGE-718 in Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm recognizes the differences between the indications, but it also sees similarities. As such, SAGE-718's lack of treatment effect in Parkinson's patients "gives us additional pause heading into the next set of readouts," contends H.C. Wainwright.

BofA downgraded Sage Therapeutics to Underperform from Neutral with a price target of $14, down from $24.

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