Cheap Depression Drug Beats Effexor, Lexapro In Study
Sertraline, the generic form of Pfizers Zoloft, came out ahead in a comparison of the results of 117 head-to-head drug studies that included almost 26,000 patients, an international team of researchers said in the Lancet. The generic drug elicited the best response and was most accepted by patients, they said.
The study of published and unpublished research targeted a dozen of the newest anti-depression drugs, including Wyeths Effexor, Lillys Cymbalta and Forests Lexapro. Sertraline and Lexapro were the only medicines ranked at the top for both ease of use and effectiveness.
“Although all approved antidepressants work and are safe, they arent all the same,” said John Geddes, a professor of epidemiological psychiatry at the University of Oxford who worked on the study.
Sertraline, sold for less than a dollar a day, could be used in tests of experimental medications, replacing placebo controls that lead many patients with serious illness to eschew trials, Geddes said yesterday in a telephone interview.
The research teams independence from drug companies should help doctors and patients decide how to pick among the depression treatments available, wrote Sagar Parikh, of the University of Torontos department of psychiatry, in an accompanying editorial.
Study Questioned
Gwen Fisher, a spokeswoman for Madison, New Jersey-based Wyeth, questioned the findings, saying that most of the trials in the study “were not adequately blinded.”
“In the field of anti-depression research, open-label, unblinded clinical studies, including meta-analyses of these studies, are of limited validity in determining the efficacy and tolerability of a drug,” she said in an e-mail. “What we see from other clinical trials, which is supported by this meta- analysis, is that Effexor XR is a potent and effective treatment for depression.”
Frank Murdolo, a spokesman for New York-based Forest, said the company was pleased the analysis showed Lexapro is one of the best choices for the treatment of depression. Officials for Indianapolis-based Lilly didnt have an immediate comment on the study results.