First new treatment for alcoholism in ten years, now available Campral(R) (acamprosat...( NEW YORK Jan. 11--Forest Laboratories...),Health

NEW YORK, Jan. 11--Forest Laboratories, Inc. announced today that Campral(R) (acamprosate calcium) Delayed- Release Tablets are now available to physicians, patients and pharmacies nationwide. Campral was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 29, 2004 for the maintenance of abstinence from alcohol in patients with alcohol dependence who are abstinent at treatment initiation. Treatment with Campral should be part of a comprehensive management program that includes psychosocial support. The approval of Campral was the first in nearly ten years of a treatment for alcohol dependence.

"We believe that Campral, in combination with psychosocial support, sets a new standard for treating the chronic disease of alcoholism," said Howard Solomon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Forest Laboratories. "Forest is committed to providing an effective and safe drug therapy to help the millions of Americans struggling with alcohol-dependence to maintain abstinence."

Campral and Complete Abstinence

"A major treatment goal for alcohol dependence is to increase rates of abstinence," said Barbara Mason, Ph.D., Professor of Neuropharmacology, Co- Director of The Pearson Center for Alcoholism and Addiction Research, The Scripps Research Institute. "Campral, when used in combination with psychosocial support, can help committed patients reach this goal because it is thought to help restore the brain's chemical balance that has been disrupted by long-term excessive drinking."

The mechanism of action of Campral in maintenance of alcohol abstinence is not completely understood. Chronic alcohol exposure is hypothesized to alter the normal balance between neuronal excitation and inhibition.⁽¹⁾ Campral interacts with neurotransmitter systems and is hypothesized to restore the normal balance.⁽¹⁾ This mechanism of action is different from that ascribed to currently available medications, which either b
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11-Jan-2005

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