Nov 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration

has approved the expanded use of Johnson & Johnson's ( JNJ )

drug Caplyta as an add-on treatment for adults with major

depressive disorder, the company said on Thursday.

J&J gained access to Caplyta with its $14.6 billion

acquisition of neurological drugmaker Intra-Cellular Therapies

in January. The FDA's decision marks the first approval for a

drug from the Intra-Cellular stable after the deal.

Caplyta can now be used as an adjunctive therapy for

patients with depression in combination with oral

antidepressants.

Major depressive disorder, or clinical depression, is one of

the most common psychiatric disorders, affecting about 22

million American adults, according to the company.

Caplyta is already approved in the U.S. to treat

schizophrenia and depressive episodes associated with bipolar

disorder.

The expanded approval was based on data from two late-stage

studies in which the drug showed significant improvement in

depression symptoms compared to an oral antidepressant plus

placebo.

Caplyta is an oral, once-daily atypical antipsychotic whose

mechanism of action is currently unknown.