Seroquel, Weight Gain, And the Pursuit of GAD and Depression Indications

Jim Edwards at BNET dug through the Seroquel documents and found many instances of AZ employees noting that Seroquel causes weight gain. Yet the company seemed bent on keeping this information hidden. As I mentioned last week, this sure seems a lot like Zyprexa redux, except with more sex scandals and perhaps more buried data. I suggest that everyone head over to BNET and see the details.

Despite all the bad news, AZ is pressing onward with its application for FDA approval for Seroquel in both generalized anxiety disorder and depression. Yikes. I broke the story earlier this week about the "scientific literature" claiming that Seroquel worked better than Haldol in the treatment of schizophrenia, yet internal company data showed Haldol as superior to Seroquel in reducing schizophrenia symptoms. Between discrepant data, the apparent hiding of negative clinical trials and trying to keep doctors distracted from data indicating that Seroquel caused weight gain, I think that Seroquel's luck may have ran out -- my bet is that the FDA won't approve the drug for depression or GAD. But I've been wrong before; the FDA did approve Abilify as an add-on treatment for depression based on pretty flimsy evidence.