-- Fanapt (iloperidone), an antipsychotic therapy, is indicated in US for the acute treatment of schizophrenia in adults, set for US launch in early 2010
-- Addition of Fanapt will strengthen Novartis psychiatry portfolio and build on history in schizophrenia
-- Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe and disabling psychiatric disorder estimated to affect more than two million adults in the US and nearly 250,000 Canadians
-- Rights to Fanapt acquired from Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. for upfront payment of USD 200 million; Vanda eligible for milestones and sales royalties
Novartis Pharma AG has entered into an agreement for exclusive US and Canadian rights to Fanapt(TM) (iloperidone), a new oral medication that is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the acute treatment of adults with schizophrenia. Novartis plans to launch Fanapt in the US in early 2010.
As part of the agreement with Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., Novartis will have exclusive commercialization rights to the oral formulation of this medicine in the US and Canada as well as exclusive rights to develop and commercialize a long-acting injectable (or "depot") formulation of this medicine for these markets.
Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder that is estimated to affect more than 2 million adults in the US and nearly 250,000 Canadians. Fanapt belongs to a class of medication for schizophrenia known as atypical antipsychotics.
READ MORE @ PR NEWSWIRE
Showing posts with label adults. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adults. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Antipsychotic Drugs Associated With High Blood Sugar in Older Adults With Diabetes
Older patients with diabetes who take antipsychotic medications appear to have an increased risk of hospitalization for hyperglycemia (elevated blood glucose level), especially soon after beginning treatment, according to a report in the July 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
An increasing number of older adults are being prescribed antipsychotic drugs for dementia and other conditions, according to background information in the article. However, these medications may be associated with a—including Parkinson’s disease symptoms, stroke and diabetes—in the older population. “The risk of diabetes may be partly related to chronic effects of the weight gain associated with antipsychotic agents,” the authors write. “However, case reports of acute hyperglycemia after the initiation of therapy with these drugs suggest that they may also be associated with acute glycemic [blood glucose level] changes.”
Lorraine L. Lipscombe, M.D., M.Sc., of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, University of Toronto and Women’s College Research Institute at Women’s College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues studied 13,817 individuals age 66 and older (average age 78) with diabetes who began treatment with antipsychotics between April 1, 2002, and March 31, 2006. Each patient who was hospitalized for hyperglycemia during the observation period—through March 31, 2007, an average of two years of follow-up—was considered a case and was matched with up to 10 control patients who were the same age and sex but were not hospitalized over the same time period. The researchers then compared the likelihood of hyperglycemia among those who were currently taking antipsychotic medications to those who had discontinued antipsychotic medications for more than 180 days.
Of the total group of 13,817 patients, 1,515 (11 percent) were hospitalized for hyperglycemia. Those who were currently taking antipsychotic drugs had a higher risk of hospitalization than those who had stopped the medications more than 180 days ago. The risk was highest among those who were just starting antipsychotic drug treatment.
READ MORE @ NEWSWISE
An increasing number of older adults are being prescribed antipsychotic drugs for dementia and other conditions, according to background information in the article. However, these medications may be associated with a—including Parkinson’s disease symptoms, stroke and diabetes—in the older population. “The risk of diabetes may be partly related to chronic effects of the weight gain associated with antipsychotic agents,” the authors write. “However, case reports of acute hyperglycemia after the initiation of therapy with these drugs suggest that they may also be associated with acute glycemic [blood glucose level] changes.”
Lorraine L. Lipscombe, M.D., M.Sc., of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, University of Toronto and Women’s College Research Institute at Women’s College Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues studied 13,817 individuals age 66 and older (average age 78) with diabetes who began treatment with antipsychotics between April 1, 2002, and March 31, 2006. Each patient who was hospitalized for hyperglycemia during the observation period—through March 31, 2007, an average of two years of follow-up—was considered a case and was matched with up to 10 control patients who were the same age and sex but were not hospitalized over the same time period. The researchers then compared the likelihood of hyperglycemia among those who were currently taking antipsychotic medications to those who had discontinued antipsychotic medications for more than 180 days.
Of the total group of 13,817 patients, 1,515 (11 percent) were hospitalized for hyperglycemia. Those who were currently taking antipsychotic drugs had a higher risk of hospitalization than those who had stopped the medications more than 180 days ago. The risk was highest among those who were just starting antipsychotic drug treatment.
READ MORE @ NEWSWISE
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Common antidepressants cut adult suicide risk -study
Common antidepressants suspected of raising suicide risk among children reduce the risk for adults, Italian scientists reported on Monday.
The findings that the drugs cut suicide risk by more than 40 percent among adults and over 50 percent for elderly people should reassure doctors, the researchers said.
But the study confirmed the drugs seriously raise the suicide risk for children, Corrado Barbui of the University of Verona and colleagues reported in the Canadian Medical Journal.
READ MORE @ REUTERS
The findings that the drugs cut suicide risk by more than 40 percent among adults and over 50 percent for elderly people should reassure doctors, the researchers said.
But the study confirmed the drugs seriously raise the suicide risk for children, Corrado Barbui of the University of Verona and colleagues reported in the Canadian Medical Journal.
READ MORE @ REUTERS
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
ADD: not just child's play
Imagine you have to do something difficult like translating a document into ancient Greek. Not only that, but you have to do it in a room where the walls and ceiling are covered in television screens, each showing a different programme and on at full volume. At the same time, people are poking you with sharp sticks. When you ask to leave the room, all they say in reply is: "Just try harder."
This is how Garret Smyth, a British novelist with a degree in neuroscience, describes what it is like to live with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) - something he himself suffers from. Unable to concentrate, prone to annoying and impulsive behaviour, and incapable of following the instructions for filling in a tax return, it is, he says, scarcely surprising that many adult sufferers fail in their working or private lives, and succumb to depression. "Everyone knows someone who is late for everything, surrounded by huge piles of paper, who is thinking about 10 things instead of focusing on one. You can take a moral line - this person is hopeless - or you can decide the person needs help."
Between one and four per cent of children are believed to have AD(H)D. Hyperactivity (H) decreases as the brain matures. But the inability to concentrate can persist into adulthood. The idea that adults can have ADD is only just gaining acceptance and, at present, medication to deal with it is only licensed for children. That means treatment often comes to a sudden end at 18, and adults seeking help often report finding their GPs are dismissive. Adult ADD is currently being studied in centres in London, Cambridge, Canterbury and Swansea but elsewhere adults are forced to queue in clinics geared to children, sitting on tiny chairs among finger paintings. "That's humiliating," says Smyth.
READ MORE @ TELEGRAPH
This is how Garret Smyth, a British novelist with a degree in neuroscience, describes what it is like to live with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) - something he himself suffers from. Unable to concentrate, prone to annoying and impulsive behaviour, and incapable of following the instructions for filling in a tax return, it is, he says, scarcely surprising that many adult sufferers fail in their working or private lives, and succumb to depression. "Everyone knows someone who is late for everything, surrounded by huge piles of paper, who is thinking about 10 things instead of focusing on one. You can take a moral line - this person is hopeless - or you can decide the person needs help."
Between one and four per cent of children are believed to have AD(H)D. Hyperactivity (H) decreases as the brain matures. But the inability to concentrate can persist into adulthood. The idea that adults can have ADD is only just gaining acceptance and, at present, medication to deal with it is only licensed for children. That means treatment often comes to a sudden end at 18, and adults seeking help often report finding their GPs are dismissive. Adult ADD is currently being studied in centres in London, Cambridge, Canterbury and Swansea but elsewhere adults are forced to queue in clinics geared to children, sitting on tiny chairs among finger paintings. "That's humiliating," says Smyth.
READ MORE @ TELEGRAPH
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Suicide risk in adults lowered by antidepressants
Adults with depression who are treated with a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have a lower rate of suicide attempts, the results of a new study indicate.
In October 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered drug labeling to warn of a possible link between antidepressant drug treatment and suicidal thoughts, or "ideation," and behavior in children and adolescents, the researchers note in the American Journal of Psychiatry. In May 2007, the warning was extended to include young adults.
Dr. Robert D. Gibbons, of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues examined the association between antidepressant treatment and suicide attempts in adult patients treated in the Veterans Administration health care system.
READ MORE @ SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
In October 2004, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered drug labeling to warn of a possible link between antidepressant drug treatment and suicidal thoughts, or "ideation," and behavior in children and adolescents, the researchers note in the American Journal of Psychiatry. In May 2007, the warning was extended to include young adults.
Dr. Robert D. Gibbons, of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues examined the association between antidepressant treatment and suicide attempts in adult patients treated in the Veterans Administration health care system.
READ MORE @ SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
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