In this eight-week study, Cymbalta, a serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, was effective in reducing depression symptoms by two weeks for 42% of patients. Within the same time period, 35% of patients taking Lexapro, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and 22% of patients who received a sugar pill had 20% reduction of symptoms.
Eli Lilly said that while its drug was significantly better than sugar pill at reducing depression symptoms, this study showed that Forest’s Lexapro was not. However, other studies have contradicted this by showing that the Forest drug does significantly reduce symptoms of depression compared to a sugar pill.
“Previous data has shown that Cymbalta may work as early as one week. In this study Cymbalta works at least as fast as Lexapro,” says Dr John Greist, clinical professor of psychiatry, University of Wisconsin Medical School.