GLG News by SSRI Prescribers (US)

Corcept Therapeutics is at it again with yet another clinical trial for its lead candidate mifeprisotone (Corlux), a GR-II (glucocorticoid) receptor antagonist, hoping to show efficacy on the psychotic features of psychotic major depression (PMD).   Corlux clearly offers a potentially novel...

Copaxone has become the leading treatment for relapsing remitting MS in the US.  The results of the PRECISE trial will likely add to TEVA's sales momentum and boost sales further.

The development of a new generation of serortinin 5HT1a agonists for major depression and anxiety disorders has met yet another failure, now from EPIX Pharmaceuticals’  PRX-00023.  Gepirone ER (GlaxoSmithKline), another 5HT1a partial agonist, suffered the same fate last November when...

1. PHRMA's R&D budget may have grown by a smaller percentage and positions have been cut due to mergers and acquisitions. 2. Biotech and non-PHRMA pharmaceutical company growth with increasing headcount , growing budgets and improved cost efficiencies may account for a portion of these...

Disease modification is the desired direction for drugs to treat Alzheimer's and gamma secretase inhibitors have really just begun to be studied.  The field is very promising.

Although the concept is exciting--an inverse agonist at the cannabinoid-1 (CB-1) receptor to reduce appetite, this medicine has a lot of bad press from rimonabant to overcome.  The major problem with rimonabant was psychopathological reactions in patients.  We do not yet know whether this...

Huntington's Disease is a tragic hereditary affliction often first manifesting in 30 and 40 year olds, with an autosomal dominant inheritance. Biotechnology is finally catching up with the disease to the extent that there is fundamental research (and drug discovery) underway that can render these offending...

The FDA has approved Abilify for Acute treatment of Manic and Mixed Bipolar I Episodes in 10 to 17 year olds.  The benefit to Otsuka and Bristol Myers will be quite significant in the market for several reasons.  The benefit to kids is more problematic.

The FDA’s approval of Abilify for treatment of acute manic and mixed episodes of pediatric Bipolar Disorder is a very important milestone.   Treatment with Abilify already has had growing off-label use in the pediatric population, in both acute and chronic settings, because of its favorable...

A entirely new concept in curing incurable diseases, such as Huntington's Disease and MS is beginning to show Proof of Concept.  The next several years will witness an exponential rise in research in this arena, as biotechs such as Alnylam (ALNY) and ISIS (ISIS) demonstrate the feasibility of this...