Lilly's Prozac follow-up shows promise

Eli Lilly's investigational antidepressant duloxetine has been shown tobe superior to both placebo and GlaxoSmithKline's Paxil/Seroxat (paroxetine) in a Phase III trial, offering up the hope that this new drug may have a role in up to 70% of depressed patients who fail to derive satisfactory relief from their symptoms on current treatment. The drug, tipped for launch in 2002, could help Lilly weather the expected loss of patent protection on Prozac (fluoxetine), its second best-selling drug, in the USA in August.

The study compared two doses of duloxetine (40mg and 80mg per day) to placebo and paroxetine 20mg/ day. Those on the higher dose did significantly better than the comparator arms in terms of improvements in depressive symptoms.