Brexanolone: A Review of the Novel Drug Injection for Postpartum Depression

Brexanolone (ZULRESSO ™) is a novel approach to treat postpartum depression in adult women as a neuroactive steroid similar in chemical composition to the hormone allopregnanolone. It was approved for use in adult women suffering from postpartum depression by the FDA in March 2019, with emphasis on its potential use in patients who are unresponsive to mainstay interventions. Brexanolone is the only drug currently on the market approved to treat PPD, use of Brexanolone requires patients to be enrolled in the REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies) ZULRESSO™ program necessitating a 60-hour period of intravenous administration and close monitoring. The pharmacogenomics of this drug have yet to be studied but could potentially aide in determining if Brexanolone administration is an appropriate therapy for a patient. Additional clinical studies with larger sample sizes are necessary in order to evaluate the use of Brexanolone in women with PPD.

Creator

• Orr, Ashley
• Hum, Julia
• Fakih, Samar

Language

• English

Stichwort

• neuroactive steroid
• Brexanolone
• postpartum depression

Date created

• 2020

Related URL

• Video Presentation:  https://marian.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=2fe59e8f-bbdf-4e85-814a-ac7400414962

Resource type

• Poster

Rights statement

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/