Alkermes Depression Drug Faces Tough Questions At US FDA Advisory Committee

If approved, ALKS 5461 would be first opioid-containing product to carry indication for depression; Alkermes CEO Pops tells Pink Sheet that agency's safety and efficacy concerns are surmountable because "all depression drugs have mixed results."

magnetic resonance image (MRI) of the brain human

Alkermes PLC's major depressive disorder (MDD) drug ALKS 5461 will need to clear a series of hurdles to win the backing of the US FDA's Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee at a Nov. 1 meeting, though it appears none will be higher than that for the product's efficacy.

Specifically designed as an adjunct to established antidepressant pharmacotherapy in the treatment of MDD, ALKS 5461 features a combination of buprenorphine, an opioid, and samidorphan, a μ-opioid receptor

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