Objective: To evaluate the effects of desvenlafaxine (administered as desvenlafaxine succinate) on symptoms of anxiety in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).
Methods: Data from 5 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 8-week trials in outpatients with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition MDD were pooled. In each study, patients with primary anxiety disorders were excluded. Eligible patients were randomized to fixed doses of desvenlafaxine (50, 100, 200, or 400 mg/d; n=1342) or placebo (n=631). The efficacy outcomes for this analysis were scores on the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D17) Anxiety subscale (sum of psychic and somatic anxiety items) and Covi Anxiety scale (measured in 4 of the 5 trials). Final on-therapy data were analyzed using analysis of covariance; the adjusted mean changes from baseline are reported here.
Results: Improvement was significantly greater from baseline for desvenlafaxine vs placebo on the HAM-D17 Anxiety subscale in the combined data set (−3.5 vs −2.8; P<0.001) and the 50-mg/d (−3.9 vs −3.2; P<0.001), 100-mg/d (−3.6 vs −2.9; P<0.001), 200-mg/d (−3.2 vs −2.7; P=0.007), and 400-mg/d (−3.2 vs −2.7; P=0.011) dose groups. Significantly greater improvement from baseline was also found for desvenlafaxine compared with placebo on the Covi Anxiety scale total score for the combined data set (−1.4 vs −1.0.; P<0.001) and the 50-mg/d (−1.6 vs −1.1; P<0.001), 100-mg/d (−1.4 vs −1.0; P<0.001), and 200-mg/d (−1.3 vs −0.9; P=0.015) dose groups.
Conclusion: In this analysis, desvenlafaxine significantly improved anxiety symptoms in patients with MDD overall and at each dose level studied.