The new indications of the antidepressant drug Brintellix of Lingbei pharmaceutical have been supported by CHMP. This drug will soon become the first antidepressant approved in the EU to improve the cognitive function of patients with depression. The new indications are based on the results of the connecting test. The results show that when compared with placebo, vortioxetine and Lilly's antidepressant competitive product duloxetine can better improve various cognitive indexes of patients.
People with severe depression usually report a series of cognitive symptoms, including obvious difficulties in thinking, attention, and memory of new information, which can damage patients' self-confidence and lead to social disharmony. Although cognitive problems have been well recognized in other mental diseases such as schizophrenia, there are few studies on their impact on depression.
We are pleased that vortioxetine received positive comments from CHMP, especially the status of cognitive impairment in affecting the treatment outcome of most patients, said Pedersen, director of Lingbei research and development. The encouraging data we have seen in addressing cognitive disorders leads us to believe that vortioxetine has the potential to help many patients treat their depression.
Votexetine has been listed in the United States for only more than a year, and it is gradually lifted in the whole EU. Last September, it was listed in Denmark, Lingbei's hometown. It is reported that this drug is the fastest-growing new antidepressant in the United States in the past three years. This drug is jointly listed by Lingbei and Takeda in the United States.
This is good news for Lingbei because it needs new drugs to make up for the impact left by the expiration of the patent of its old antidepressant Idprem. Yidepulum was a blockbuster drug with annual sales of several billion dollars, which has been impacted by the competition of generic drugs.
Votexetine sold 188 million kroner ($27 million) in six EU markets last year, compared with 83 million kroner in the fourth quarter alone, so it still has some ways to catch up with Idem. Although Idprem no longer has a market franchise, it still sold 4.6 billion kroner. The Danish company also has long-acting schizophrenic drug aripiprazole and an alcohol addiction treatment drug nalmefene, which can help vortioxetine increase the company's revenue again.