"Seroquel will overtake Lamictal for biopolar depression," says report

AstraZeneca's Seroquel (quetiapine) will overtake GlaxoSmithKline's Lamictal (lamotrigine) as the gold standard in the treatment of bipolar depression by 2010, according to the new Decision Resources report entitled Bipolar Depression: Turning Physician Insight into Projected Market Share. This says that Seroquel's advantages over Lamictal include the more profound effect on depressive symptoms seen in short-term trials. The drug's efficacy on this measure differentiates it from other therapies, according to thought-leading psychiatrists, and the importance assigned to this measure by prescribing psychiatrists drives Seroquel's product score above that of Lamictal.

The report also sizes other opportunities in this market, based on prescribing psychiatrists' satisfaction with currently-available agents.

"During the next 10-15 years, we expect that only two other therapies will receive labeling for the treatment of bipolar depression: Bristol-Myers Squibb/Otsuka's Abilify (aripiprazole) and Wyeth/Solvay/Lundbeck's bifeprunox," said Kate Hohenberg, principal director at Decision Resources. "Neither drug has yet demonstrated a notable improvement in efficacy over currently-available atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, but we still expect them to have a market. Abilify exhibits a much lower risk of sedation and somnolence than the atypical antipsychotics according to pooled clinical trial data in its product insert, and our target product profile research reveals an opportunity for this agent as well. We expect bifeprunox will share this characteristic," she noted.