Quetiapine in bipolar disorder: Increasing evidence of efficacy and tolerability

Quetiapine is an atypical antipsychotic agent that has been approved for the treatment of schizophrenia in over 75 countries; it has been used to treat more than 4 million individuals since its launch in 1997. After quetiapine was found to improve mood and reduce aggression in patients with schizophrenia, researchers began investigating the drug in other indications. Quetiapine, as monotherapy or combined with mood stabilizers, significantly reduces measures of disease severity and acute mania in a variety of bipolar disorder patients, and displays excellent tolerability for a drug in its class. Of particular note is the incidence of extrapyramidal symptoms at levels similar to those seen with placebo. A phase III trial program in bipolar disorder is presently ongoing and includes five randomized, double-blind, controlled trials already reported and several other studies which are ongoing or planned.