AstraZeneca presents positive sustained release Seroquel studies

AstraZeneca presents positive sustained release Seroquel studies

	Published : Sun, 18 Mar 2007 10:22 By : Agencies Print this Story

LONDON (AFX) - A sustained release formulation of AstraZeneca PLC's anti-psychotic drug Seroquel significantly improved symptoms associated with schizophrenia and increased the time to psychiatric relapse, studies presented by the drug maker showed.

The drug is already on the market in its original formulation, generating sales of 3.4 bln usd last year.

The data, being presented at the European Congress of Psychiatry in Madrid, formed the basis of the company's application to regulators, seeking marketing approval for the new one-a-day pill, called Seroquel SR.

Analysts expect a decision next year.

While the patents protecting Seroquel do not expire until 2011, generic drug makers are already snapping at the heels of the franchise. Teva Pharmacueticals has already made the first steps in trying to produce a copycat pill.

By producing an newer, sustained release version of the medicine, AstraZeneca hopes some patients will keep taking its branded product, rather than switch to cheaper generic versions. The SR version is protected until 2017.

Sales of a branded drug will often plummet 80 pct in the first month of the appearance of a copycat medicine.

Professor Rene Kahn, professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Head of the Division of Neuroscience at the University Medical Center, Utrecht, said the sustained release formulation showed an advantage over the original pill.

Patients received the necessary doses within two days of starting treatment with Seroquel SR, while 'initial dose escalation' is not so simple with the original pill, he said.

'In mental healthcare, striving for treatment that is simpler and more practical is an important objective for patients and doctors,' he added.

In one study presented in Madrid with 588 patients with acute schizophrenia, those given Seroquel SR showed a significant improvement over those given a placebo.

A second trial examined time to first psychiatric relapse in 197 patients with clinically stable schizophrenia, treated with either Seroquel SR or a dummy pill. The Astra drug was found to significantly reduced risk of relapse, and give a longer time to relapse.

amy.brown@thomson.com

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