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Biotech / Medical : TITAN PHARMACEUTICAL (TTP) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sea Otter who wrote (141)	10/2/2000 8:13:32 PM
From: Miljenko Zuanic	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 362

One monthly depo formulation? Anyone with idea whose this technology is? BC on Zomaril: Talia Puzantian, assistant clinical professor at the University of California San Francisco School of Pharmacy and clinical pharmacist in psychiatry at San Francisco General Hospital, noted that "we don't know the perfect ratio of D2 to 5HT2A to balance the adverse effects with the treatment effect." Acording to Louis Bucalo, CEO at TTP (South San Francisco, Calif.), "Zomaril has a good balance of binding affinity for a particular set of receptors: norepinephrine, dopamine and sero-tonin. That gives the drug a good side effect to efficacy profile." NOVN (Basel, Switzerland) reported that Zomaril caused "little" weight gain in its trial, but it is not clear what this will mean in clinical practice, because the length of the trial wasn't disclosed. "When Zyprexa was released, it didn't look like it caused weight gain," noted Puzantian. "That trial collected six weeks worth of data, which wasn't long enough to properly assess the weight gain liability. Weight gain is mediated in part by histamine H1 receptor blockade, and probably 5HT2C receptors too." NOVN also reported that Zomaril caused no increase in serum prolactin, a side effect most noticeable with the older anti-psychotics and Risperidal. Increased serum prolactin is a side effect caused by D2 blockade, clinically manifested in men as breast enlargement and erectile dysfunction. In women it causes galactorrhea (lactation). NOVN did not disclose whether Zomaril caused prolonged QT syndrome. Zomaril's inhibition of norepinephrine receptors also helps treat the depression that is a common co-morbidity of psychosis. According to Puzantian, "norepinephrine re-uptake inhibition correlates with improved social motivation, goal oriented behav-ior, less of the apathetic symptoms." The real prize in the treatment of schizophrenia will come from a well-tolerated long-acting formulation. "What is really missing is a depot formulation of the atypical antipsychotics. The first one to come to market is going to be huge," said Puzantian. "Non-compliance rates in this illness are really high, due to both the nature of the disease and the side effects of the drugs." TTP's Bucalo said that the oral form of Zomaril will get to market first, and NOVN is testing a once-monthly depot formu-lation in clinical trials.