(Reuters) – U.S. health regulators have declined to approve a new antipsychotic drug from Forest Laboratories and Richter, citing the need for more information, including additional clinical trial data.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) delivered its verdict on cariprazine for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in a so-called “complete response letter,” the type of letter issued by the agency to convey that it cannot approve a drug application in its current form.
Cariprazine was discovered by Hungarian drugmaker Richter and licensed to Forest in the United States and Canada.
Industry analysts have forecast North American sales of the drug of $ 250 million in 2017, according to consensus forecasts compiled by Thomson Reuters Pharma.
In its letter, the FDA acknowledged that cariprazine demonstrated effectiveness but the two companies said on Thursday it appeared regulators wanted more tests on the optimal dose of the treatment to avoid potential side effects.
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by David Holmes)
- Pharmaceuticals & Drug Trials
- Health
- Food and Drug Administration
- Forest Laboratories
- antipsychotic drug
