ALKERMES, THE maker of drugs for the central nervous system, said it will move faster than scheduled to test an experimental treatment for depression after a successful early-stage trial.
Alkermes, based in Dublin following its €670 million acquisition of Elan’s drug technology unit last summer, is seeking a market of people who don’t respond to typical depression medicines such as Eli Lilly’s Prozac, chief executive Richard Pops said.
About half of people don’t respond to their first therapy, Mr Pops said.
The experimental drug, ALKS 5461, targets opioid receptors in the brain. It combines buphrenorphine, which stimulates the receptors and is used to treat heroin addiction, with ALKS 33, which has the opposite effect, making a non-addictive medicine that may treat depression, Mr Pops said.
“We’re very interested in those cases where drugs have been developed before and we think we can fill a patient need,” he said.
The compound was tested in a study of 32 patients for seven days and recorded a reduction in depression symptoms, as measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the company said.
The results, released yesterday, have led Alkermes to start the treatment in the second of three phases of clinical trials usually needed for US regulatory approval.
The company is simultaneously developing ALKS 5461 for cocaine addiction.
Alkermes slipped less than 1 per cent to $17.32 at 9.47am on the New York stock exchange. The stock gained 41 per cent in 2011. – (Bloomberg)
