To: Anthony Wong who wrote (1073 ) 11/17/1998 7:53:00 PM From: Anthony Wong Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1722
Pfizer's Zoloft Reduces Risk of Depression Relapse, Study Says Bloomberg News November 17, 1998, 4:57 p.m. ET Pfizer's Zoloft Reduces Risk of Depression Relapse, Study Says Chicago, Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Pfizer Inc.'s Zoloft, widely used to help bring patients out of depression, also can prevent its recurrence in the chronically depressed, a new study says. While many doctors take it as an ''article of faith'' that long-term use wards off new episodes of depression, and government agencies recommend nine months of therapy for patients who relapse after treatment, this is the first study to prove a benefit in the chronically depressed, researchers said. Dr. Martin B. Keller from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and his colleagues gave 161 patients who benefited from short-term treatment with Zoloft the drug or a placebo for almost 18 months. Only 5 of the 77 patients, or 6 percent, getting Zoloft had a full recurrence during the study, compared with 19 of the 84 patients, or 19 percent, on placebo. Symptoms of depression occurred in about a quarter of those on Zoloft and half of those on placebo, the study found. Patients taking Zoloft also were more likely to report problems with sexual function during the trial. The study, funded by New York-based Pfizer, appears in tomorrow's Journal of the American Medical Association. Eli Lilly & Co.'s Prozac, SmithKline Beecham Plc's Paxil and Forest Laboratories Inc.'s Celexa, also marketed by Warner- Lambert Co., all work in similar ways to Zoloft and together dominate the $8.4 billion worldwide market for depression drugs. While the other drugs haven't yet been studied for more than a year in chronically depressed patients, existing research does show that longer term therapy reduced risk of relapse in general. A study released earlier this fall, for example, showed that patients taking Lilly's Prozac were significantly less likely to have another bout of depression if they took the drug for 38 weeks. That study was supported by Indianapolis-based Lilly. --Michelle Fay Cortez in Ithaca, New York (607) 272-1174, throughnews.com