Seroquel as effective as olanzapine in mania

A systematic review of atypical antipsychotics in all phases of bipolar disorder, conducted by the Oxford UK-based Bandolier group, has revealed that Seroquel (quetiapine) has equivalent efficacy to olanzapine and risperidone as a therapy for bipolar mania.

The survey, which was commissioned by Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca, included data from over 30 trials that enrolled in excess of 7,000 patients. The results also revealed that Seroquel is more efficacious than olanzapine, in terms of the number of treatments needed to achieve a 50% reduction on the depression rating scale (4 versus 12; p=0.02), at eight weeks. Bandolier commented that the findings support those from the BOLDER study program, which showed that Seroquel brought about greater rates of response and remission than comparator treatments (Marketletter November 27, 2006).

Seroquel is approved in the UK for the treatment of manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder, but not as a therapy for depression. The US Food and Drug Administration granted marketing clearance for the drug in bipolar depression late last year (Marketletter December 4, 2006).