FDA Staffers Sit on Fence for Advisory Panel Review of Depot Olanzapine (Zyprexa)

SILVER SPRING, Md., Feb. 5 -- Without sugar-coating episodes of extreme sedation with depot olanzapine (Zyprexa), FDA staffers took a neutral posture on whether agency advisers should recommend the drug’s new formulation for schizophrenia. The agency’s Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee meets Wednesday to consider whether the Lilly agent as a depot is safe and effective despite the extreme sedation reported in a small percentage of patients.