First Drug Approved in Japan to Reduce Alcohol Consumption in Alcohol-dependent Patients

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and H. Lundbeck A / S of Denmark are pleased to announce that Otsuka has launched Selincro Tablets 10mg (generic name: nalmefene hydrochloride), a therapeutic drug treatment to reduce alcohol consumption in alcohol-dependent patients in Japan.

Selincro, the first dual-acting opioid system modulator in Japan, acts on the brain's motivational system, which is dysregulated in patients with alcohol dependence. In 2013 Otsuka formed an agreement with Lundbeck on the development and commercialization in Japan of Lundbeck's Selinclo.