Posted by Ame Sans Vie on March 20, 2004, at 12:23:41
In reply to NUVIGIL {armodafinil} - new drug to be, posted by PsychoSage on March 18, 2004, at 18:36:32
Oh boy... "armodafanil", huh? Sounds to me like just one of those molecular engineering tricks that are oh-so-common these days to extend patent-protection. These molecules have an R ("ar") and an S ("es") isomer -- oftentimes one isomer is more therapeutically active than the other, or one isomer causes more side effects. Lexapro was a big success because it there actually turned out to be truth behind all the hype -- "escitalopram" (Lexapro) ended up being more tolerable for many people than its racemic form, "citalopram" (Celexa). But then there are products like Nexxium (esomeprazole) which, as far as I can tell, doesn't provide any benefit over its racemate, omeprazole -- Prilosec.
So "armodafinil" sounds to me like a sort of sneaky euphemism for "R-modafinil"... can't say I'm too excited about this one. The vast majority of patients taking Provigil only need it once daily anyways... :-\
About generic Provigil -- it's on its way! The FDA recently granted "tentative approval" to some company (can't remember which at the moment) to market modafanil. I'd just wait for the generic and switch to it and not concern yourself much about "armodafinil" -- I'm sure Cephalon just wants to find a way to convince people to continue paying $5 per pill.
poster:Ame Sans Vie
thread:325819
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040319/msgs/326425.html