New Depression Treatment Shows Promise

Dan Iosifescu, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine and Director of Clinical Research at NKI, is the senior author of a new paper reporting promising results for an experimental treatment for major depressive dirsorder.

The publication is a collaboration with Axsome Therapeutics and appears in The American Journal of Psychiatry. In this phase 2 clinical trial, the researchers compared a combined dextromethorphan-bupropion treatment (AXS-05) with the use of bupropion alone. They found that patients who received the combined treatment were significantly more likely to experience a reduction in symptoms of depression.

In the press release from Axsome Therapeutics, Dr. Iosifescu commented: “Due to its novel mechanism of action targeting glutamate and sigma-1 receptors, and to its robust antidepressant efficacy demonstrated in this study, AXS-05 has the potential to become an important and very useful new treatment for patients with major depressive disorder.” For more details about the study, see this Psychiatric News Alert from the American Psychiatric Association.

Reference: Tabuteau H, Jones A, Anderson A, Jacobson M, Iosifescu DV. Effect of AXS-05 (Dextromethorphan-Bupropion) in Major Depressive Disorder: A Randomized Double-Blind Controlled Trial. Am J Psychiatry. 2022 May 18:appiajp21080800. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.21080800. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35582785.