Zeneca's Seroquel Nears Market Approval

Zeneca Pharmaceuticals is hoping for approval soon for itsanti-schizophrenia agent Seroquel (quetiapine) in the USA and a number of European countries, and expects to launch the drug before the end of the year, a spokesperson for the company told the Marketletter at the World Congress on Biological Psychiatry in Nice, France.

Seroquel belongs to the atypical class of antipsychotics, and has a similar pharmacological profile to Novartis' Clozaril (clozapine). It is active at multiple brain receptors, with a greater affinity for 5-HT2A receptors and a somewhat lower affinity for dopamine D1 and D2 receptors, which may be responsible for fewer extrapyramidal side effects. It also has affinity for 5-HT1a and alpha1 and alpha2 adrenergic receptors as well as histamine H1 receptors.

Clinical Trial Experience Over 3,000 patients have been treated with Seroquel in clinical trials. A paper presented at the WCBP reported on six controlled Phase II and Phase III studies involving patients who were experiencing an acute exacerbation of chronic or subchronic schizophrenia.