(Bloomberg) -- Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc. soared the most in more than two years after its top-selling drug succeeded in a trial of major depressive disorder, potentially opening up a lucrative new market.

The New York-based company’s drug, lumateperone, beat a placebo on a scale that measures the severity of depressive episodes, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Results from a second late-stage study of the drug are expected late in the second quarter of this year, said the company, which focuses on treatments for people with psychiatric and neurologic diseases. 

Intra-Cellular shares jumped 24% after markets opened on Tuesday, the most since December 2021. The stock had declined nearly 10% this year through Monday’s close.

The study examined the drug as an adjunctive therapy, meaning it would be used in addition to a primary treatment of antidepressants. Intra-Cellular hopes to expand the use of drug, which is sold under the name Caplyta and is already approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar depression.

About 21 million people in the US had at least one major depressive episode in 2021, according to the National Institutes of Health.

In a note, RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams described the results as a “clear win” for the company that should pave the way for the drug to get approval in major depressive disorder.

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