Posted by lepus on December 29, 2003, at 17:25:58
Eli Lilly and Co. on Monday said it received U.S. regulatory clearance to sell a drug that treats the depressive phase of bipolar disorder with a combination of Prozac and another Lilly medication.
Symbyax mixes the depression drug Prozac with Zyprexa, used to treat schizophrenia and manic episodes of bipolar disorder. Zyprexa is Lilly's top-seller with more than $4 billion in annual sales, while Prozac, the company's former flagship drug, lost U.S. patent protection in 2001.Lilly said Symbyax is the first medication approved to treat the depressive phase of bipolar disorder, a condition marked by debilitating mood swings that affects at least 2.5 million Americans.
The Indianapolis-based company said patients spend more than three times longer in the depressive phase than in the manic phase of the disorder.
But taking antidepressants alone can make patients wildly manic and nearly suicidal. So adding Zyprexa can calm those manic tendencies.
A spokeswoman for the company said Symbyax will be available in four dosage combinations of the two drugs.
~* Maybe this drug will help some of us. Seems Zyprexa has had good results with a lot of people.
poster:lepus
thread:294428
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20031225/msgs/294428.html