MSU professor develops new depression medication

---

Tweet

A depression medication developed by an MSU professor could provide a more effective treatment of the mental illness with fewer side effects.

The medication, named F2695, was developed by Jonathan Henry, an associate professor in MSU’s Department of Psychiatry, and currently is undergoing clinical trials before it can be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

“Depression is a huge problem,” Henry said. “We think there are still many people that are undiagnosed.”

The medication could help treat many common symptoms of depression without side effects usually present in depression medications, such as increased appetite, increased weight, impaired sexual performance and suicidal thoughts, Henry said.

Depression is a serious mental health concern, and any product that can effectively treat the illness would be a great asset, said Bob Caldwell, a professor in the Department of Psychology.

“Depression is the most commonly diagnosed mental disease there is,” Caldwell said. “Side effects can be very discouraging to patients on this medication. If this new medication doesn’t have those side effects, it would be a real advance.”

Suffering from depression can affect both mental and physical health, Henry said. Patients diagnosed with depression often exhibit less productivity at work and strained relationships with other people, and the illness also can complicate things such as diabetes and coronary artery disease, he said.

“There’s lots of good reasons to have better treatments for depression,” he said. “That’s why the hunt is on.”

Henry said there are three other medications in the U.S. that treat depression in a similar way. If his medication is approved by the FDA, it could be another piece of the solution for effectively treating the disease.

If a patient experiences side effects from one prescription, doctors would be able to move them on to another drug to see if the patient’s condition improves, Henry said.

“Having additional options, additional choices give us a better chance of helping people,” he said. “The fewer choices we have, the fewer options we have for trying to get people better.”

The research was arranged by MSU’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, which aids MSU faculty in obtaining research grants and connecting them with financiers, said Loren Friedman, director of clinical trials at the institute.

“(This research) is the fulfillment of what we’re trying to do in terms of bringing new treatments and new medications to patients for those people who haven’t been able to respond in the past or would like to try something new,” Friedman said.

---