AstraZeneca announces bipolar drug success

A treatment to improve the depressive symptoms of bipolar I disorder has been approved, according to AstraZeneca.

Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate), used in conjunction with lithium or divalproex, was approved following two multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials.

Bipolar is a serious mental illness characterised by depressive moods swinging to manic episodes and affects millions of people worldwide.

The overall results showed that patients treated with Seroquel and lithium or divalproex had a vastly reduced (70 per cent) risk of experiencing another mood event.

Fewer patients also relapsed with this combination of drugs; more than half of patients who took the placebo relapsed against less than 20 per cent who took Seroquel, the company said.

The drug has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and is the only single agent approved for depressive episodes and acute manic episodes.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, other characteristics of the illness are poor judgement, abuse of drugs and inability to concentrate.