I just heard psychiatrist Dan Carlat give a talk that touched on Wyeth's new antidepressant Pristiq. Much of what he said is captured in a post on his terrific blog.
In short, here are his top 5 reasons to forget about Pristiq. You can read the details on his blog.
1. It’s a blatant patent extender.
2. It's not very effective.
3. It is not more easily dosed than Effexor XR (as the company claims).
4. It has no meaningful metabolic advantages.
5. Wyeth’s own lead investigator is unimpressed.