New Antidepressant Gives Patients New Option for Treating Major Depressive Disorder
he FDA has approved a new drug called Viibryd to treat adults with major depressive disorder.
Carol Reed, MD, chief medical officer of Clinical Data Inc., tells WebMD that Viibryd offers a new choice for doctors treating people with depression. It is the only antidepressant that is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor but also works as a 5HT1A receptor partial agonist, meaning it affects the brain chemical serotonin in two ways. Serotonin helps regulate mood and other processes.
“Major depressive disorder is disabling and prevents a person from functioning normally,” Thomas Laughren, MD, director of the division of psychiatry products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, says in a news release. “Medications affect everyone differently, so it is important to have a variety of treatment options available to patients who suffer from depression.”
