3 New Antidepressants coming to market

1) Oct. 11/18, Janssen:

http://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/janssen_submits_esketamine_in_europe_for_treatment_resistant_depression_1255355

 

Esketamine is a glutamate receptor modulator, for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in adults with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

 

It has been developed for patients who have failed to respond to at least two different treatments with antidepressants in a moderate to severe depressive episode – a group which represents up to 30% of patients.

 

Filed with the FDA last month, the US regulator is now scheduled to make its ruling in May 2019.

 

However analysts at Evaluate say concerns that the drug might activate opioid receptors in the brain – and therefore be an addiction risk – could lead to the FDA imposing warnings or restrictions on its use.

 

It also says ‘underwhelming’ phase 3 results have led to its sales forecast being downgraded significantly - now standing at $490m annual revenues by 2022.

 

The drug is a rapidly-acting antidepressant, and is thought to work by restoring synaptic connections in brain cells in people with TRD.

 

2) Allergan:

Allergan also has a contender in phase 3 trials, rapastinel, and is likely to be free of the dependency risk of Janssen’s drug.  Pivotal data is expected in the first half of 2019, though it isn’t currently expected to challenge esketamine in revenue terms.

 

3) Sept. 15/18, Sage Therapeutics Inc:

https://www.sciencealert.com/postpartum-depression-drug-women-game-changer

 

A promising new treatment for postpartum depression (PPD) could mark a major step forward in women's health care, researchers say.

Brexanolone injection works differently than existing antidepressant medications, and if approved by the US Food and Drug Administration later this year, will be the first new class of antidepressants in decades, and the first drug specifically indicated for PPD.

 

Brexanolone injection is an allosteric modulator of both synaptic and extra-synaptic GABAᴀ receptors. In postpartum depression, the GABA pathway may play a key role in regulating hormones that researchers believe can lead to PPD.

this is so exciting!! thanks for posting this!

 

these drugs a radical step away from the predominantly serotonin and dopamine drugs. esketamine looks very promising -- reminds me of ketamine with its uncanny AD properties.

 

many people do not respond to serotonin drugs and several have bad reactions. hopefully this will change when these drugs hit market.

:

One step forward, three steps back.

One step forward, three steps back.

 

Exactly my thoughts!

Sept. 17/18, Change Ahead In Antidepressant Drugs Market :

 

https://www.fitchsolutions.com/corporates/healthcare-pharma/change-ahead-antidepressant-drugs-market-17-09-2018

 

The antidepressant drug pipeline has shifted towards medications with novel mechanisms and new drug classes are on course to drive growth in this market. The limited market penetration of existing antidepressant therapies and issues with those therapies means that high commercial potential remains for drugs with novel mechanisms of action, rapid onset of effect...

 

$$$

 

Sept. 17/18, Change Ahead In Antidepressant Drugs Market :

 

https://www.fitchsolutions.com/corporates/healthcare-pharma/change-ahead-antidepressant-drugs-market-17-09-2018

 

The antidepressant drug pipeline has shifted towards medications with novel mechanisms and new drug classes are on course to drive growth in this market. The limited market penetration of existing antidepressant therapies and issues with those therapies means that high commercial potential remains for drugs with novel mechanisms of action, rapid onset of effect...

 

$$$

 

it seems the only way to get $$ out of consumer pockets is by delivering drugs that work. what else could explain this flurry of inventions?

 

but i wish more research went into non-drug treatments of dysthymia, specifically this -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainwave_entrainment

 

there might be a hack here to the beneficial powers of meditation without having to spend long hours meditating. one BB member, who goes by the name eli1111, was put back into acute benzo withdrawal, 6 years after healing, by a brainwave experiment! hard to believe but true.

Oh, for Pete's sake, some things never change ... always trying to sell ADs and stir up BS and drama!  Let Eli and other members speak for themselves!

this is so exciting!! thanks for posting this!

 

these drugs a radical step away from the predominantly serotonin and dopamine drugs. esketamine looks very promising -- reminds me of ketamine with its uncanny AD properties.

 

many people do not respond to serotonin drugs and several have bad reactions. hopefully this will change when these drugs hit market.

 

"Esketamine" is ketamine.  The ketamine molecule comes in two forms which are mirror images of each other. (These are called enantiomers, or stereo-isomers, if you remember your chemistry  ) One form is called the "R" form, R-ketamine; the other form is the "S" form, S-ketamine, or esketamine. Only the S form has biological activity. When making the chemical it's a lot easier to make the mixture. To make one isomer over the other requires extra steps and special chemicals.

 

Pharmaceutical companies do this with many of their drugs so they can extend the patent on a "new and improved" version. Citalopram (Celexa) becomes S-citalopram, or "escitalopram" (Lexapro). Omeprazole (Prilosec) becomes S-omeprazol, or "esomeprazole" (Nexium).

 

Ketamine is an old drug, used as an anesthetic, and is no longer under patent. So Johnson & Johnson (owner of Janssen) is going to patent the stereoisomer S-ketamine as an antidepressant.

New customers !

 

More brain damage, new victims, even greater drug sales !

what else could explain this flurry of inventions?

because "everything must change for things to remain the same"

This news gives me the creeps. It's all about marketing to vulnerable people. Ick.

 

Thanks, HopeToDoThis, for the chemistry info. 

Thanks, HopeToDoThis, for the chemistry info. 

 

My friends often tell me that a degree in chemistry has no practical application to everyday life. A career spent in pharmacteuticals, and I know drugs (some legal, some not so legal), and I know what the ingredients in shampoo are! 

I would disagree with them. Definitely useful!

Oh, for Pete's sake, some things never change ... always trying to sell ADs and stir up BS and drama!  Let Eli and other members speak for themselves!

 

you will be your old self soon. we all heal in time... just don't give up.

Oh, for Pete's sake, some things never change ... always trying to sell ADs and stir up BS and drama!  Let Eli and other members speak for themselves!

 

Id agree  :thumbsup:

 

more drugs to heal "other" drug damage  :idiot:   

 

And are they more rigorously tested than the "other" drugs  

 

re their side effects or long term damage        :nono:

 

 

 

Check this out, the OP named three of them, but look what's actually in the pipeline. 

 

1 Glutamatergics

2 Monoaminergics

3 Neurosteroids

4 Opioidergics

5 Others

6 Mixed

 

I counted ~33 of them!  So scary.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_investigational_antidepressants

Could anything be more evil than Big Pharma!!!

Yay! An addictive anti-depressant! /sarcasm/

Pure evil.

I work in the biotech/pharmaceutical industry. Yes, companies deserve some of the bashing, just like any other company.

 

But I can tell you that the people who work on the front lines in pharma companies really believe they are helping people out developing new medicines to help patients.

 

I don't know what the culture is like at generic companies. I've always worked for companies developing new drugs.

It's interesting to hear your perspective, Hope, so thank you for telling us that. Obviously, there's a huge disconnect between what people in the pharmaceutical companies think and what some of us who are on the receiving end of drug side effects and/or damage feel.

I feel that benzodiazepines end up being a big profit destroyer for many new drug manufacturers, since the nature of benzos and how they are usually prescribed and taken has a tendency to sensitize the nervous system in a way that very few other drugs can. Once sensitized to that level, a patient cannot tolerate much of anything anymore, which is quite a profit killer. One could argue that doctors who put people on benzos in the first place and keep them on it are actually destroying a lot of potential profits that biotech/pharmaceutical companies could make by their newer drugs.

 

 

I feel that benzodiazepines end up being a big profit destroyer for many new drug manufacturers, since the nature of benzos and how they are usually prescribed and taken has a tendency to sensitize the nervous system in a way that very few other drugs can. Once sensitized to that level, a patient cannot tolerate much of anything anymore, which is quite a profit killer. One could argue that doctors who put people on benzos in the first place and keep them on it are actually destroying a lot of potential profits that biotech/pharmaceutical companies could make by their newer drugs.

 

 

benzos are cheap and are well tolerated. they are able to suppress almost every psychiatric ailment and doctors love prescribing them. obviously pharmaceutical companies would hate them. the patented z drugs help but not totally.

I work in the biotech/pharmaceutical industry. Yes, companies deserve some of the bashing, just like any other company.

 

But I can tell you that the people who work on the front lines in pharma companies really believe they are helping people out developing new medicines to help patients.

I don't know what the culture is like at generic companies. I've always worked for companies developing new drugs.

 

I can understand that; I worked for psychiatrists for nearly 20 years and I believed I was helping people.  Not anymore I should add.

 

Thank you for the info about ketamine/esketamine Hope.