FDA accepts NDA for ALKS 5461 for major depressive disorder
Posted: 18 April 2018 | European Pharmaceutical Review | 2 comments
The FDA has accepted for review the New Drug Application for ALKS 5461, a novel, once-daily, oral investigational medicine for the adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder …
Alkermes plc has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted for review the New Drug Application (NDA) for ALKS 5461, a novel, once-daily, oral investigational medicine for the adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in patients with an inadequate response to standard antidepressant therapies. The FDA’s target action date for the ALKS 5461 NDA is Jan. 31, 2019.
FDA’s acceptance of the ALKS 5461 NDA and rescission of the Refusal to File letter issued March 30, 2018 follows productive interactions with the Agency in which Alkermes clarified certain aspects of the NDA submission. No additional data or analyses were submitted by Alkermes to FDA.
“FDA’s filing of the ALKS 5461 application is a positive step forward for patients suffering from major depressive disorder, a serious disease where inadequate response to existing antidepressants remains a well-known and significant treatment limitation, and where there have been no new pharmacological treatment approaches in 30 years,” stated Dr Craig Hopkinson, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Medicines Development and Medical Affairs at Alkermes. “We will continue to engage with the FDA throughout the review process, as we work to bring this important medicine to patients.”
The NDA filing for ALKS 5461 is based on results from a clinical efficacy and safety package with data from more than 30 clinical trials and more than 1,500 patients with MDD. Throughout the clinical development program, ALKS 5461 demonstrated a consistent profile of antidepressant activity, safety and tolerability in the adjunctive treatment of MDD.
About ALKS 5461
ALKS 5461 is a proprietary, investigational, once-daily oral medicine that acts as an opioid system modulator and represents a novel mechanism of action for the adjunctive treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in patients with an inadequate response to standard antidepressant therapies. ALKS 5461 is a fixed-dose combination of buprenorphine, a partial mu-opioid receptor agonist and kappa-opioid receptor antagonist, and samidorphan, a mu-opioid receptor antagonist.
Related topics
Drug Development, Drug Manufacturing, Drug Targets, Research & Development (R&D)
I feel the same way. I have both ms and pd and need this for my mood. God bless.
I have been following the development of this drug for quite some time. As someone who suffers from treatment resistant depression, I have tried so many different drugs with little or no …. until Subutex (buprenorphine). I came upon research that suggested that certain opiods could actually benefit people with depression, so I begged my doctor to let me try it. Lo and behold, here I am 3 years later able to function like a normal human being. No more suicidal thoughts. This stuff could save lives. It certainly saved mine.