Subject:     APA: Geodon (Ziprasidone HCl) Better Tolerated Than
             Zyprexa (Olanzapine) In Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective
             Disorders 5/24/01
From:        LyndaNP <Lynd...@bigfoot.com>
Newsgroups:  alt.support.depression.manic
             soc.support.depression.manic
Date:        Thu, 24 May 2001 07:31:01 -0400

from:
http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/1fa55e.htm

APA: Geodon (Ziprasidone HCl) Better Tolerated Than Zyprexa (Olanzapine)
In Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorders

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- May 8, 2001 -- Pfizer Inc's novel schizophrenia
treatment Geodon (ziprasidone HCl) was shown to be significantly better
tolerated in terms of weight gain, cholesterol, triglycerides and
insulin levels than Zyprexa (olanzapine), another leading antipsychotic,
according to data presented today at the annual meeting of the American
Psychiatric Association. The study represents the first head-to-head
comparison of the two medicines.

Results from a double-blind, six-week study involving 269 hospitalized
patients showed that Geodon and Zyprexa were comparable in alleviating
psychotic symptoms associated with schizophrenia and schizoaffective
disorder. However, there were significant differences between the two
medicines with regard to several important health parameters. Median
weight gain for
patients treated with Geodon was less than one pound over the course of
the study, while Zyprexa patients gained more than 10 pounds. Weight
gain among Zyprexa-treated patients was progressive, with a median gain
of over three pounds after only the first week of treatment.

"We know that weight gain has been a serious side effect of some
antipsychotic treatments and that it can have a negative impact on
patients' willingness to continue to take their medication," said Dr.
Ira Glick, lead investigator and Professor of Psychiatry, Department of
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of
Medicine.

"Gaining a significant amount of weight carries its own set of health
risks," Dr. Glick said. "Overweight or obese patients are more likely to
suffer from a variety of cardiovascular problems and diabetes as well as
have a reduced quality of life."

In addition, cholesterol and other lipid measurements were essentially
unchanged throughout the study for Geodon patients while Zyprexa
patients saw significant increases in these measures. Total cholesterol
increased an average of 20 mg/dL for Zyprexa patients (from 185.6 at
baseline to 206.4) while their triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein
(or "bad" cholesterol) levels also rose significantly.

"These results are of potential clinical concern since such an increase
in total cholesterol, based on epidemiologic studies, carries
significant increased risks for adverse cardiovascular events," said Dr.
Charles Hennekens, Visiting Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and
Public Health at the University of Miami School of Medicine and
Associate Director for Cardiovascular Research at Mt. Sinai Medical
Center-Miami Heart Institute. "Such large increases in cholesterol may
even create a medical need for adding cholesterol-lowering
intervention."

Insulin levels also rose significantly among patients treated with
Zyprexa while there was no statistically significant change in insulin
levels for Geodon-treated patients. Increased insulin levels suggest the
development of insulin resistance.

Geodon, discovered and developed by Pfizer, was approved by the FDA on
February 5, 2001. Most commonly reported side effects were somnolence,
extrapyramidal symptoms and respiratory disorders (over 90 percent of
which were identified as cold symptoms). Geodon is also associated with
a small prolongation of the QTc interval of the electrocardiogram, an
effect seen with certain other marketed medicines, including some
antipsychotics. This effect was well characterized in the extensive
Geodon clinical trials database and is reflected in the FDA's product
labeling, which suggests that physicians use their best judgment, based
on the overall status of the patient, as to whether Geodon or another
antipsychotic agent be used first.

SOURCE: Pfizer Inc.

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--
LyndaNP
Reality isn't the way you wish things to be, nor the way
they appear to be, but the way they actually are.
- Robert J. Ringer