Patch for Depression is OK'D

[juliana24]

RedOrbit.Com

Patch for Depression is OK'D

By ANDREW BRIDGES Associated Press

Saturday, 4 March 2006

The drug, approved by the FDA on Tuesday, could have side effects.

WASHINGTON -- The first skin patch to treat depression won federal approval Tuesday, providing a novel way to administer a drug already used by Parkinson's disease patients but that belongs to a class of medicines that is rarely a first- or second-choice antidepressant.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the selegiline transdermal patch, the agency's spokeswoman, Susan Cruzan, said. The drug will be marketed as Emsam, said Somerset Pharmaceuticals Inc., which developed the drug, and Bristol-Myers Squib Co., which will market it in three sizes as a once-a-day treatment for major depression.

Selegiline, approved in pill form by the FDA in 1989 to help treat Parkinson's, is a monoamine oxidase inhibitor, or MAOI. Typically, doctors prescribe MAOIs for depression only if patients don't respond to other antidepressants, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil.

Although health officials say MAOIs are safe when used correctly, the drugs can cause dangerous interactions, including sudden and severe rises in blood pressure that can lead to stroke and death, when patients consume food or drinks that contain a substance called tyramine. It is found in draft beer, red wine, fava beans, salamis, aged cheeses, soy sauce and other products.

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