Forest and Cypress Announce FDA Approval of Savella(TM) for the Management of Fi...( New treatment option for the estimate...),Health

New treatment option for the estimated 6 million Americans living with this chronic, debilitating condition

NEW YORK and SAN DIEGO, Jan. 14, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) and Cypress Bioscience, Inc. (Nasdaq: CYPB) today announced that Savella(TM) (milnacipran HCl), a selective serotonin and norepinephrine dual reuptake inhibitor, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the management of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain and decreased physical function, afflicting as many as six million people in the United States. The safety and efficacy of Savella was established in two US pivotal phase III clinical trials involving over 2,000 patients with fibromyalgia. The studies showed that Savella doses of 100 mg/day and 200 mg/day demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful concurrent improvements in pain, patient global assessment, and physical function. The companies expect Savella to be available in pharmacies by March 2009.

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"Fibromyalgia is a complicated chronic pain condition, so it is important that physicians and patients have access to treatments that have been shown to help manage the symptoms that define the experience of fibromyalgia," said Dr. Daniel Clauw, Professor of Anesthesiology and Medicine (Rheumatology) at the University of Michigan. "The introduction of Savella is important because it is the first drug approved to treat the symptoms of fibromyalgia using a composite responder analysis.".

"Savella is the
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