First Market Launch of Serdolect

14 July 1996

Lundbeck, the Denmark-based biopharmaceutical company, has announced the UK launch of its antipsychotic drug Serdolect (sertindole) for the treatment of schizophrenia and schizo-affective disorder. The announcement took place at the 8th Congress of the Association of European Psychiatrists and Annual Meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in London on July 9.

This is the first launch in the world of this drug, and it is the first of a new generation of atypical antipsychotics to reach the market. Older products such as haloperidol are proven to have clinical benefits, but have the added complication of significant extra-pyramidal side effects, eg dystonia, akasthesia and tardive dyskinesia. Sertindole has high affinity for the dopamine D2, serotonin 2A and 2C and alpha-adrenergic receptors in the limbic ventral tegmental area of the brain, improving its antipsychotic effect. In addition, its reduced effect in the substantia nigra of the basal ganglia lessens the extra-pyramidal symptoms. In clinical trials it has been shown, both long and short-term, to effectively relieve both the positive (hallucinations and delusions) and negative (social withdrawal and motivational disturbances) symptoms of schizophrenia and schizo-affective disorder, while offering placebo-level relief from the EPS that are the cause of many patients ceasing their medication and consequently suffering relapse (Marketletter July 1).

Cost Reductions Schizophrenia affects approximately 250,000 people in the UK alone, with the cost of care and treatment estimated to be around L1 billion ($15.53 million) per year. An enormous part of this cost can be attributed to hospitalization fees. These in turn are often a result of non-compliance with treatment due to side effects experienced by the patient. A 12-month US study comparing the cost-effectiveness of sertindole to "usual care" antipsychotic medication found that the 35 patients treated with sertindole spent 75% less time in hospital (4.3 days versus 18.4 days) than the 40 patients in the comparison group. In addition, there was no shift to outpatient care in the sertindole-treated group.

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