New FDA Approved Med: Brintellix

[netsavy006]

I found out a couple days ago that there is a new medication for depression that was approved by the FDA last week.

 

Here's some links to info about the new med (called Brintellix):

 

http://www.drugs.com/brintellix.html

http://us.brintellix.com/

https://www.brintellixhcp.com/

http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm370416.htm

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/811892

 

Take care,

~ Andy

[Kaashii]

Hadn't heard about this one yet, thanks Andy!    Bookmarking it so I can curl up and geek out reading up on it later.

[CookieN]

Thanks. It says it has no effect on weight!

Edited October 12, 2013 by CookieN

[LikeMinded]

Can't wait for the full-on prescribing information in order to 'geek out' upon this one... Maybe it will replace my Cymbalta+Remeron.  Turning 2 drugs into 1 is good, as far as my liver knows.

[HAL9000]

God my liver must hate my guts...  I just made myself laugh.   Anyway cool info but am I the only one that thinks the disclamers are annoying level legal stuff?   Could there be ANY drug that doesn't say "How it works is not understood"   Really?  Do they just give random chemicals to mice who are depressed and see what happens?

 

Drug # 40523

Mouse got out of the nest and started working on a new nest.   Mouse#5 seems to avoid mating so sexual side effects should be on the box.

 

And the suicidal "black box"   Is it as simple as this.   To be DXed with Depression one of the things that you check on that test is how often you think about suicide in the last two weeks?   So depressed people are more likely to be suicidal then people who are not?   It seems like ultra cover your ass text.

[melissaw72]

Thanks for the information; I haven't heard of this med.

 

HAL makes some good points too.

[mcjimjam]

And the suicidal "black box"   Is it as simple as this.   To be DXed with Depression one of the things that you check on that test is how often you think about suicide in the last two weeks?   So depressed people are more likely to be suicidal then people who are not?   It seems like ultra cover your ass text.

I think the problem is even those who aren't depressed have reported suicidality. Healthy volunteers etc. It has also been noticed more frequently with ADs than the control groups. So I think it is a real phenomenon, although perhaps not very common. Anticonvulsants carry a similar warning. 

[melissaw72]

 

And the suicidal "black box"   Is it as simple as this.   To be DXed with Depression one of the things that you check on that test is how often you think about suicide in the last two weeks?   So depressed people are more likely to be suicidal then people who are not?   It seems like ultra cover your ass text.

I think the problem is even those who aren't depressed have reported suicidality. Healthy volunteers etc. It has also been noticed more frequently with ADs than the control groups. So I think it is a real phenomenon, although perhaps not very common. Anticonvulsants carry a similar warning. 

 

 

That is a good point.  Hadn't thought of it that way.

[quiet storm]

Looks like its SSRI with a couple of other properties. Has very light action on norepinephrine. I don't know if its enough to be of any consequence. Is also a 5HT1A agonist......think remeron, buspar and trazodone.

[Kaashii]

Hmm.  If it's a glorified SSRI with an 5HT1A agonist, this really could be potential good news for me.  Not that I'm keen on taking the newest drugs on the market because OMG EXPENSIVE but still, if it has the remote chance that it could replace my Remeron + Celexa combo, my desk looking less like a pharmacy would be nice.  Weight neutral would be awesome, and if it doesn't have the obnoxious "I'm gonna eat sugar right out of the bowl" sweet cravings that Remeron does, I'd be a happy camper.   The high incidence of nausea doesn't bode well for me, considering that's what hammers me the worst.  I guess we'll see if this one makes the rounds of "Hey, you might want to consider this, we have samples" at the counseling center. 

 

Sometimes I wonder where they come up with the brand names for this stuff.  Brintellix sounds like it should be the name of a telecom company to me.  >_>

[quiet storm]

It actually sounds a lot like viibryd, the other new one on the market. Both are SSRI's with agonist action on 5HT1A. Hopefully it doesn't have the horrendous diarrhea or as crazymeds puts it:

What Viibryd is best known for:

Giving you diarrhea that’s worse than what you’d get from drinking a quart of Tijuana tap water.

[larkspur]

This new drug, vortioxetine, is also an antagonist at 5HT-7, much like Latuda. A lot of people are saying that this makes it pro-cognitive and perhaps more effective on negative symptoms. It is also not an SSRI in the truest sense, it's a non-selective serotonin transport blocker (SRI).

[mcjimjam]

I would be very cautious about assuming it is truly weight neutral just yet. The longest trial was six months, and most SSRIs etc. take longer than that to put weight on you. They used to say SSRIs were weight neutral, too. SNRIs are really confusing because people often lose weight first and gain weight later.

[LikeMinded]

 

Drug # 40523

Mouse got out of the nest and started working on a new nest.   Mouse#5 seems to avoid mating so sexual side effects should be on the box.

 

And the suicidal "black box"   Is it as simple as this.   To be DXed with Depression one of the things that you check on that test is how often you think about suicide in the last two weeks?   So depressed people are more likely to be suicidal then people who are not?   It seems like ultra cover your ass text.

 

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You almost owed me a new laptop, pal.

 

As someone who used to work in the pharmaceutical industry and knows about how we determine how effective a drug might be, I find the idea hilarious: "Mouse #6 is growing his hair out and just asked our intern where the Tool and Earshot CDs were located."***

 

The accepted public SOP is first to try the drug against blank receptors, and then via molecular models in cells (if applicable), and then it goes on to rodent testing, and then finally humans.  Sexual side effects are checked for in human clinical trials, though I can't rule out animal studies about them...

 

As far as I know, the black box *is* cover your ass.  Granted, it came out on ADs well after I left the industry, so I have no idea the legalities/lawsuits behind it.  I believe the warning (check the PI sheet for any AD) says that suicidality is increased for ages <24, no changes ages 25-64, and actually decreased for ages >65 in the immediate weeks following starting the drug in question.  Suicidality was found in a haberdashy of trials in the early 2000s (too many for me to cite), at least enough to send pharma executives' asses running for cover.  Donkey saddles were in short supply at the time.

 

 

***For those who are depressed, please don't take the stereotypes personally.  I have been through it too, like Mouse #6.  Including with Tool and Earshot.