In one document dated October 9, 2000, Robert Baker, a senior Lilly clinical research physician, e-mailed colleagues about a meeting of an academic advisory board he had attended in Atlanta. It had “reinforced my impression that hyperglycemia remains quite a threat for olanzapine and may merit increasing even further medical attention and marketing focus on this topic”. Dr Baker added: “[The board was] quite impressed by the magnitude of weight gain on olanzapine and implications for glucose.”
Another internal document dated October 14-15, 1998, described the risk of weight gain as a “top threat” to Zyprexa.
Link here. Background here, here, and here.
What are the chances the paper will make any difference on UK or US health policies regarding olanzapine?
ReplyDeleteI'd say that if papers keep hammering on Zyprexa, it will likely make a difference. In fact, the weight gain/hyperglycemia/diabetes issue on Zyprexa has coincided with Zyprexa losing out to Seroquel in terms of numbers of prescriptions written. We'll see if Seroquel can maintain its champion status. Zyprexa's golden years of sales are behind it, but it can still make some serious cha-ching for Lilly for years to come.
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