Understanding the Experiences of Patients With Major Depressive Disorder Treated With Zuranolone: Qualitative Interviews With Participants From the Open-Label SHORELINE Study

This work was sponsored by Sage Therapeutics, Inc. and Biogen Inc. Background: Zuranolone is an oral, once-daily, 14-day treatment course in clinical development for adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) or postpartum depression. Qualitative interviews were conducted to understand patients’ experiences with and perceptions of zuranolone and living with MDD. Methods: Researchers conducted interviews using a convenience sample of patients who received zuranolone 50 mg once-daily for 14 days in the ongoing open-label SHORELINE study (NCT03864614), demonstrated a clinical response to the initial treatment course at Day 15, and were enrolled in the SHORELINE study for ≥24 weeks. Interviews were conducted on participants’ experiences with MDD, their perceptions of zuranolone, and the meaningfulness of treatment improvements. Results: The 32 interview participants had a mean age of 40.6 years; 56.3% were male. All interview participants reported an improvement in ≥1 MDD-related symptom with zuranolone; 87.5% of patients noticed improvements within the first week of treatment. All 27 patients who reported adverse MDD-related symptoms affecting their social lives, activities, or relationships before receiving zuranolone reported improvements following treatment in those areas. All participants agreed seeing improvements within a short time period was meaningful to them. Of the 29 patients who described what they most liked about zuranolone, many liked that it helped manage their depression or another specific MDD-related symptom and the 14-day treatment course. Conclusion: Patients in this qualitative interview study who were treated with 50 mg zuranolone and responded to treatment in the SHORELINE study described experiencing rapid improvements in depressive symptoms and improvements in their daily lives and roles.