In a poster presentation at the 73rd Annual Scientific Convention of the Society of Biological Psychiatry meeting in New York, New York, May 10 to 12, researchers reported about an adjunctive investigational drug therapy for major depressive disorder, alone and together with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), in rats resistant to SSRIs.
This page contains sponsored advertising.
In a poster presentation at the 73rd Annual Scientific Convention of the Society of Biological Psychiatry meeting in New York, New York, May 10 to 12, researchers reported about an adjunctive investigational drug therapy for major depressive disorder (MDD), alone and together with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), in rats resistant to SSRIs.
ALKS 5461, a combination of buprenorphine (BUP) and samidorphan (SAM), is an opioid system modulator under development for patients with MDD with inadequate response to conventional antidepressants.
The Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat strain is a model that mimics some aspects of depression and anxiety and is reportedly insensitive to SSRI treatment.
To assess SSRI insensitivity, 8 rats received acute or repeated fluoxetine or escitalopram (ESC) treatment before exposure to the forced swim test (FST).
Both treatment-naïve and ESC-treated rats received a single subcutaneous injection of BUP:SAM before the FST.
Separate cohorts of rats (n = 8 per group) were dosed acutely with diazepam (DZ), ESC, or BUP:SAM 24 hours and were tested in the marble burying task to assess anxiolytic-like activity.
In the FST, neither acute nor chronic SSRI treatment altered immobility compared with vehicle controls.
Acute BUP:SAM significantly reduced immobility in both naive (P <.05) and ESC-treated rats (P <.01). BUP:SAM significantly reduced marble burying behavior 24 hours post injection (P <.01), whereas DZ and ESC were inactive under these treatment conditions.
The researchers said the data indicated that WKY rats are SSRI-insensitive when tested in the FST, and they may be a useful model for investigating novel antidepressants. The data also showed that the ALKS 4561 improves behavioral deficits in nonclinical tests of depression and anxiety.
Reference
Smith K, Eyerman DJ, Dean RL, Sanchez C. Samidorphan in combination with buprenorphine improves behavioral deficits in non-clinical tests of depression and anxiety using SSRI insensitive rats. Presented at: The 73rd Annual Scientific Convention of the Society of Biological Psychiatry Meeting; May 12, 2018; New York, New York. Abstract #S171.
Specialty Pharmacists at the Forefront: Elevating Care for Rare Diseases
May 1st 2024In the US, a disease is considered rare when it affects fewer than 200,000 persons, or 1 in every 1500 individuals, with an estimated total of 25 to 30 million Americans overall living with a rare disease at any given time.
Read More
The Importance of Examining and Preventing Atrial Fibrillation
August 29th 2023At this year’s American Society for Preventive Cardiology Congress on CVD Prevention, Emelia J. Benjamin, MD, ScM, delivered the Honorary Fellow Award Lecture, “The Imperative to Focus on the Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation,” as the recipient of this year’s Honorary Fellow of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology award.
Listen
Diving Deep Into Specialty Pharmacy: Insights and Forecasts From IQVIA’s Doug Long
May 1st 2024Doug Long, MBA, vice president of industry relations at IQVIA, covered a bevy of stakeholder investment–related topics in his presentation at AXS24 on trends in specialty pharmacy, chief among them challenges facing the industry, obesity medications, generics and biosimilars, new product launches, and the outlook for the US market.
Read More
Promoting Equity in Public Health: Policy, Investment, and Community Engagement Solutions
June 28th 2022On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association, on the core takeaways of his keynote session at AHIP 2022 on public health policy and other solutions to promote equitable health and well-being.
Listen
OptumRx’s Jon Mahrt Discusses “Irresponsible” Drug Pricing for Products With Multiple Indications
April 30th 2024When the same product comes to market with additional indications, irrational pricing decisions result in ever increasing prices instead of volume translating to lower costs, said Jon Mahrt, MBA, of OptumRX.
Read More
Forging a Patient-Centric Path to Revolutionize and Redefine Value-Based Care
April 30th 2024Optum Life Sciences and Takeda Pharmaceuticals are partnering on an innovative virtual care pilot program for inflammatory bowel disease meant to both continue the mission of the current value-based health care landscape and raise the bar for personalized care delivery optimization.
Read More