The Missing Post

Ugh! It seems that cyberspace has gobbled up my previous post and I don't want y'all to feel like I'm rejecting my blog because I love it, but I'm also terribly sleepy.

Here's something to sustain you, via The Scientist.

The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a class that includes the popular antidepressants Zoloft, Prozac, and Paxil, are the workhorses in depression therapy. First approved in the late 1980s and early 1990s, their combined US sales reached $4.5 billion last year, according to Atlanta-based health information provider NDCHealth.

While SSRIs currently dominate the market, watch for a novel twist on depression treatment. DOV Pharmaceutical of Hackensack, NJ, has done early testing of a new class of medications, called triple reuptake inhibitors, which have been shown to be safe, effective, and well tolerated. "That is very interesting because it may offer enhanced tolerability over existing drugs," Hohenberg says. DOV recently granted Merck & Co. exclusive worldwide rights to develop and market its two compounds for depression therapy.

And progress marches relentlessly on.

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