Product News and Recalls

Search on for antidepressants to replace SSRIs

In a recent piece in Forbes, former president of Pfizer research and development John LaMattina discusses the limitations of the popular antidepressants classified as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs.

LaMattina mentions an antidepressant that pharmaceutical company Lundbeck is developing, called Lu AA21004. He writes that researchers are hoping the new medication won’t have some of the drawbacks of SSRIs, which include Prozac and Zoloft.

Those drawbacks, according to LaMattina, include a success rate of only about 50 percent, as well as a span of weeks before they actually start working.

“Finally, these drugs have a variety of side-effects that impact one’s quality-of-life,” LaMattina writes.

A number of studies have suggested a link between women’s use of SSRIs during pregnancy, and birth defects including potentially life-threatening heart and lung ailments.

Unfortunately, LaMattina writes, many major drug companies have stopped or scaled back the neuroscience research that might produce a better class of antidepressants.

Psychiatric clinical trials often produce a high number of subjects who respond to placebos. In addition, LaMattina writes, most antidepressants are now generic. As a result, pharmaceutical companies have little incentive to produce a new antidepressant unless it has a clear advantage over other antidepressants on the market.

Patients should consult their doctors before making any changes in their medication. A consultation with an SSRI lawyer is also important if there are significant injuries as a result of taking the antidepressants.

See the story here:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2012/05/22/will-lundbecks-new-antidepressant-be-a-major-new-drug/