Treatment of depression and anxiety with fluoxetine and an NK-1 receptor antagonist
AssigneeMerck Sharp & Dohme Corp.
InventorsEmma Joanne Carlson, Nadia Melanie Rupniak
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Abstract
The present invention relates to the treatment or prevention of depression and/or anxiety by the administration of a combination of a specific class of NK-1 receptor antagonists and fluoxetine.
Claims8
A method for the treatment or prevention of depression and/or anxiety, which method comprises oral administration to a patient in need of such treatment or prevention an amount of a NK-1 receptor antagonist and an amount of fluoxetine, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, such that together they give effective relief, wherein the NK-1 receptor antagonist is CNS-penetrant as determined by its ability to inhibit NK-1 receptor agonist-induced foot-tapping in the gerbil, and is effective in the attenuation of separation-induced vocalisations by guinea-pig pups.
An oral pharmaceutical composition comprising an NK-1 receptor antagonist and fluoxetine, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, together with at least one pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient, characterised in that the NK-1 receptor antagonist is CNS-penetrant as determined by its ability to inhibit NK-1 receptor agonist-induced foot-tapping in the gerbil, and is effective in the attenuation of separation-induced vocalisations by guinea-pig pups.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.