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Passive immunotherapies in AD: new data from AAIC

February 4, 2015

View Part 1 on active immunotherapies

Monoclonal antibodies targeting beta-amyloid have produced a series of disappointments. Two phase III trials of bapineuzumab showed no significant effect on ADAS-cog or Disability Assessment for Dementia scores in patients with mild to moderate AD either with or without the APOE4 allele (Salloway et al. N Engl J Med 2014;370:322-333). A similar lack of efficacy was seen in the two phase III EXPEDITION studies of solanezumab (Doody et al. N Engl J Med 2014;370:311-321). Solanezumab is now being studied in patients with early-stage AD. Read More

Pharma sales projected to top $1 trillion

February 4, 2015

Worldwide pharmaceutical sales are projected to exceed USD$1 trillion in 2020, according to an analysis by EvaluatePharma, a market intelligence company. Global sales in 2013 were $717 billion. Growth over the next seven years is projected to be about 5% per year despite a loss (-1.6%) in 2012 and minimal growth (+0.3%) in 2013. Higher growth is largely attributed to the development of biological agents, which are priced higher than pharmaceuticals and are less likely to be genericized. Read More

Relapse prevention in first-episode schizophrenia: role of long-acting injectables

January 14, 2015

Relapse risk factors
Use of LAIs in first-episode schizophrenia
LAI vs. oral antipsychotics
Use of aripiprazole once-monthly
Current recommendations for LAI use
Comment by Dr. Marc-André Roy

The clinical goals in the management of schizophrenia are to reduce the severity and duration of acute episodes of psychosis, promote recovery, maintain optimal functioning and prevent subsequent relapses (National Institute for Clinical Excellence, Clinical Practice Guidelines, No. 82;2009:210; Falkai et al. World J Biol Psychiatry 2006;7:5-4; Lehman et al. Am J Psychiatry 2004;161[suppl 2]:1-56).

Relapses can contribute to clinical destabilization, an increased risk of hospitalization, and a more intractable course of worsening symptoms and reduced responsiveness to antipsychotic therapies. There is emerging evidence that the duration of psychotic relapses is associated with brain volume changes (Andreasen et al. Am J Psychiatry 2013;170:609-615; free full text at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3835590/). Read More