Eli Lilly reports ‘important’ approval of depression drug

Eli Lilly has reported that the recent approval of Cymbalta (duloxetine Hcl) as a maintenance treatment for adults with major depressive disorder is an important step as study data shows that continuing treatment of patients increases the time to a potential relapse.

The compound has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration following a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial involving 533 patients with major depression who received a 60 mg dose of Cymbalta once a day for 12 weeks before entering the continuation phase of treatment.

Cymbalta is a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor that is believed to operate by potentiating the activity of these chemicals in the brain and spinal cord, while its mechanism of action is not fully known.

Lauren Marangell, a distinguished scholar at Eli Lilly, said: “Once an episode of depression has been successfully treated, it is imperative that the symptoms do not return.”

She added that the maintenance of treatment with antidepressants is recommended by the American Psychiatric Association in order to reduce the probability of a relapse.

In August 2007, Eli Lilly presented clinical trial data showing that patients with fibromyalgia receiving Cymbalta showed a greater reduction in pain severity compared to those receiving a placebo.