Let's say your doctor prescribes you 5 mg a day of Lexapro, an antidepressant.
Like many follow-up drugs, Lexapro is essentially a fragment of the drug that preceded it.
In Forest's press release announcing FDA approval for Lexapro, Columbia University psychiatry professor Jack Gorman praised the drug.
The study prompted much favourable coverage of Lexapro, thanks in part to kind words from the its authors.
Edwards thinks Forest can do it, and that Lexapro will be a blockbuster.
Still, he is bullish on Forest right now, largely on the strength of its two antidepressant drugs, Celexa and Lexapro.
But many analysts are optimistic, because, unlike some drugmakers facing patent expirations, Forest has left itself plenty of time to grow Lexapro.
Lexapro, a slightly modified version of Celexa, may work a little better.
In order to guard against the generics, Forest is trying to switch patients from Celexa to Lexapro, which still has years of patent protection.
It remains the most popular psychiatric drug, topping more recently introduced medicines like the sleeping pill Ambien (No. 2) and the antidepressant Lexapro (No. 3).
But not everyone agrees that Lexapro is far superior to Celexa.
His doctor prescribed the anti-depressant Lexapro and the sleeping pill Ambien.
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Forest says clinical trials involving 1, 100 patients show that a low, 10-milligram dose of Lexapro is as effective at relieving depression as a 40-mg dose of Celexa.
Prozac and its various descendents are a huge presence on our most-popular list, with Lexapro, Zoloft (No. 7), Cymbalta (No. 8) and Effexor (No. 10) all making appearances.
"Lexapro is a welcomed treatment option because it offers many patients relief from depression symptoms quickly, with few side effects and a low risk of drug interactions, " Gorman said.
Lexapro doesn't need to be as big as Celexa, but it does need to be big enough to recoup most of the sales Forest will lose when generic Celexa hits the market.
Rather, it found that although both forms of treatment were better than a placebo, there was no statistical difference between the results from the use of talk therapy and the popping of Lexapro.
Investors should keep a close watch on the switch from Celexa to Lexapro and not worry too much about new indications for memantine, which is not yet approved for its primary indication, Alzheimer's.
In a response published alongside the critical letter from Drs Lacasse and Leo, Dr Robinson and his colleagues acknowledged that Lexapro performed no better than talk therapy in their study, but insisted this omission was not intended to mislead.
If Forest does not switch enough patients to Lexapro, the damage done to it will be far worse than the massive hit Eli Lilly (nyse: LLY - news - people ) stock took when Prozac lost patent protection.
It's gone so mainstream that even huge health plans, like UnitedHealth Group, are encouraging their members to split pills--offering members free splitter devices. (Check out halftablet.com) The company says 21 common medicines--including Crestor, Lipitor, Lexapro and Zoloft, are ripe for splitting.
UnitedHealth Group ( UNH - news - people ), are encouraging their members to split pills--offering members free splitter devices. (Check out halftablet.com) The company says 21 common medicines--including Crestor, Lipitor, Lexapro and Zoloft, are ripe for splitting.
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