China-developed antidepressant granted market approval

JINAN -- A new type of antidepressant developed by researchers in China's Yantai University has been approved for marketing by the country's National Medical Products Administration.

Toludesvenlafaxine hydrochloride extended-release tablet, the new drug, is an innovative medicine developed by China with independent intellectual property rights for depression treatment, according to an approval document.

Tian Jingwei, a professor at Yantai University and leader of the research team, said the new drug is a triple reuptake inhibitor of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), norepinephrine (NE), and dopamine (DA), and has proved effective in alleviating patients' symptoms.

It took the team over 10 years to develop the new drug, with aims to overcome the defects of first-line antidepressants, said Tian.

Zhang Hongyan, a professor at the Peking University Sixth Hospital, said clinical tests results showed that the medicine is able to meet patients' needs for relieving symptoms including anxiety, fatigue and cognitive disorders, marking a step forward in China's research and development of antidepressants.