The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7270 p488
11 October 2003

This article
Reprint
Photocopy

R & D News summary

Related websites
European College of Neuropsychopharmacology congress (www.ecnp.nl)
American Psychiatric Association (www.psych.org)

Depression relapse rate decreases with new dual re-uptake inhibitor

Patients with major depressive disorder taking duloxetine hydrochloride, a serotonin and norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitor, have a lower risk of relapse compared with patients on placebo, findings presented at the annual congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology in Prague last month indicate.

In a randomised, double blind controlled trial, 533 patients suffering from major depressive disorder were treated with 60mg duloxetine daily for 12 weeks. Patients who responded to treatment (n=278) were then randomised to either continue with the duloxetine or to placebo for a further 26 weeks. It was found that 17.4 per cent of patients receiving duloxetine suffered a relapse, compared with 28.5 per cent of the placebo group (P=0.042).

Furthermore, in a pooled analysis presented at the American Psychiatric Association’s annual meeting in San Fancsico earlier this year, patients with a Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAMD₁₇) >=19 taking duloxetine (80–120 mg daily) had significantly higher rates of remission compared with patients taking paroxetine (20mg daily) or placebo. The HAMD₁₇ threshold for entry to the studies was >=15 and remission was defined as a score of <=7. Patients with depression who achieve full remission are less likely to suffer a relapse.

The Journal attended the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology congress courtesy of Eli Lilly