Xanax (Alprazolam)
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Alprazolam, also known under the trade names Xanax and
Niravam, is a short-acting drug of the benzodiazepine class used to
treat moderate to severe anxiety disorders, panic attacks, and as
an adjunctive treatment for anxiety associated with clinical depression.
It is also available in an extended release form, Xanax XR. Both forms
are now available generically.
"[The public often] underestimate the extent to
which certain disorders affect the general populace. When you treat
them, it can make a tremendous amount of difference in their lives."
(David Sheehan, first discovered alprazolam's efficacy in treating
panic disorder.[3])
Alprazolam was first synthesized by Upjohn (now a part
of Pfizer). Its patent (#3,987,052)[4] was filed on October 29, 1969,
granted on October 19, 1976 and expired in September 1993. It was
released in 1981.[5][6] The first indication for which alprazolam
was approved was panic disorder. Upjohn took this direction at the
behest of a young psychiatrist David Sheehan. Sheehan's suggestion
was to use the confusion DSM-III created in the classification of
anxiety disorders (a distinction had just been made in DSM-III between
generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorder). Panic disorder
was, at that point, perceived to be rare and treatable only with tricyclic
antidepressants; benzodiazepines were thought to be ineffective. However,
from his clinical experience, Sheehan knew panic disorder to be both
widespread among the populace and well responding to benzodiazepines.
He suggested to Upjohn that marketing alprazolam for panic disorder
will both cover new diagnostic territory and stress the unique potency
of this drug. Sheehan describes that the first group of patients treated
by alprazolam was so impressed by its action that they knew outright—this
drug was going to be a hit. A few of them pooled their money and bought
the Upjohn’s stock. Several months later, when alprazolam was
approved by the FDA, they sold out and made a profit.
