Postpartum Depression Pill Zuralonone Shows Promise in Women With Severe Symptoms

Women with severe postpartum depression may experience improvements within a few days of taking the oral medication zuranolone (a neuroactive steroid), suggests areport published today inThe American Journal of Psychiatry. These improvements continued even after the women stopped the 14-day medication regimen.The study was funded by Sage Therapeutics and Biogen, which are involved in the development of the medication.Postpartum depression affects an estimated 17% of women worldwide, according to Kristina M. Deligiannidis, M.D., of Zucker Hillside Hospital and colleagues. This disorder can lead to multiple challenges for mothers and infants, including poor maternal-infant bonding, increased risk of infant behavioral problems, and suicidal ideation in mothers. “Current treatment options often include standard-of-care antidepressants; however, achieving response to treatment can take up to 12 weeks,” Deligiannidis and colleagues wrote. “Given the deleterious effects of untreated [postpartum depression], identification of rapid and effective treatment options is critical.”Zuranolone is a rapid-acting medication in development for the treatment of postpartum depression;it has been granted priority review by the Food and Drug Administration. Aprevious trial found zuranolone at the 30 mg/day dose to be effective and generally well tolerated.For the current phase 3 trial, 196 women aged 18 to 45 with severe postpartum depression were randomized to zuranolone (50 mg/day) or pl...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Biogen FDA HAM-A HAM-D major depressive episode postpartum depression SAGE side effects Source Type: research