Neurogenesis-based compound promising for treatment of MDD, researchers say.

Medscape (9/21, Brauser) reported that, according to a study presented at a medical conference, “a neurogenesis-based platform may be leading the way in helping to identify new treatments for depression.” A team from the department of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital evaluated “the efficacy of” the neurogenic compound called “BCI-952 for the treatment of MDD” by randomly assigning a “total of 134 patients with” major depressive disorder “to receive the BCI-952 combination (n = 67), buspirone alone (n = 34), or placebo (n = 33) during a six-week period.” At study end, they found that “the mean CGI-I scores were statistically significant for those treated with BCI-952 compared with those treated with placebo,” and “the responders’ analysis for CGI-I…demonstrated a higher response rate for BCI-952, at 58 percent vs. 38 percent for buspirone alone,” and “36 percent for placebo.”

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