J&J sees Spravato sales surge as psychedelic competitors loom

 

Psychedelics, chiefly Compass Pathways’ COMP360, are unlikely to make an immediate dent in the sales of Johnson & Johnson’s depression drug Spravato, H.C. Wainwright’s Patrick Trucchio told BioSpace.

Psychedelics stand to gain from the promising growth of Johnson & Johnson’s depression drug Spravato in the second quarter, analysts say, while also potentially posing a threat to the pharma’s neuroscience portfolio in the long run.

Compared with the same period last year, Spravato’s Q2 revenue spiked 40% on an operational basis, bringing in $584 million worldwide, according to J&J’s second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday. According to an analysis from Jefferies published later in the day, J&J has designated the drug as a “key franchise,” with peak sales that could top $5 billion.

Spravato, an esketamine-based nasal spray, was first approved in 2019 for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and earned a label expansion in January 2025 to become the first monotherapy for the disease. For now, it remains the only therapy for TRD on the market, but that could soon change, as more traditional psychedelics inch closer to the market, driven by powerful clinical readouts, a more convenient use profile and the outspoken support of health officials. (J&J has previously told BioSpace it does not consider Spravato to be a classic psychedelic.)

Leading this charge is Compass Pathways, which is advancing the psilocybin-based COMP360 for TRD. Earlier this month, Compass reported results from a Phase 3 trial showing that 39% of patients treated with COMP360 saw a clinically meaningful improvement in depression severity by six weeks—benefits that persisted through week 26.

Compass has an ongoing rolling submission for COMP360 with the FDA, which it plans to complete in the fourth quarter. If approved, the drug could launch in the first half of 2027.

Patrick Trucchio, managing director and biotech analyst at H.C. Wainwright & Co., doesn’t expect COMP360 to have an immediate impact on Spravato, however. The psychedelic “is unlikely to create a near-term revenue cliff” for J&J, he told BioSpace in an email on Tuesday, “as reimbursement, provider training, and site capacity ramp.”

If COMP360 is approved, Trucchio continued, “the impact should be zero in 2026 and minimal in 2027.”

Instead, the analyst believes COMP360 “should become a meaningful longer-term competitor” to Spravato. “The larger strategic risk emerges from 2028 onward,” Trucchio said, noting that if the psychedelic drug’s “durability and retreatment profile hold up in practice, it could slow Spravato new starts, reduce maintenance volumes and lower peak revenue.”

Also working on a psychedelic for depression is Definium Therapeutics. Last month in a Phase 3 trial, the company’s investigational pill, called DT120, elicited what Jefferies analysts in a June 22 note called “profound” improvements in major depressive disorder symptoms. In its own assessment of the data, Stifel said DT120 “exceeded expectations with clear and highly robust efficacy.” Definium did not provide a timeline for a regulatory filing.

The path to approval for Compass and Definium could be aided by President Donald Trump’s executive order in April aimed at accelerating the development of and access to psychedelic therapies. In conjunction, the FDA granted a Commissioner’s National Priority Vouchers to three investigational therapies, including COMP-360, a move that could significantly expedite its review.

https://www.biospace.com/business/j-j-sees-spravato-sales-surge-as-psychedelic-competitors-loom