My latest Clinical Pipeline column for #NatureMedicine is a look at zuranolone, a new antidepressant developed by Sage & Biogen, targeting the GABA pathway.
#drugdiscovery #drugdevelopment #depression #GABA #neuroscience
@cyrilpedia
I love these columns; thank you. Wonderful to see a new pathway targeted for depression!
One of the things I found striking about the brexanolone trials was the unexpected (but not surprising) discovery that big benefits follow when new moms getting some sleep (ie nothing is in the IV at all):
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/12/09/pregnancy-depression-postpartum-sleep/
Do you know if this was also considered in the zuranolone trials as well? It's a pill - so new moms don't need to check out in the same way (big advantage). But if it works via GABA_A and what happens is that they sleep more, well ...
@NicoleCRust Thanks for that WP link, I had not seen it. Interestingly, somnolence is one of the most frequent side effects om both Brexanolone and zuranolone trials (and lack the anti-depressive effect, it shows a huge placebo effect). It might also be linked to one of the secondary endpoints in the trials (which they hit), anxiety reduction.
@NicoleCRust And thank you for the kind comments.