How is milnacipran, the new fibromyalgia drug, different from other fibromyalgia medications?
Milnacipran, marketed under the brand name Savella in the United States, is the latest drug to receive Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the management of fibromyalgia. The FDA approved fibromyalgia indications for two other drugs — pregabalin (Lyrica) and duloxetine (Cymbalta) — in 2007 and 2008, respectively. In clinical trials, milnacipran was significantly better than was placebo at reducing pain and other physical symptoms in study participants who had fibromyalgia and did not also have depression or anxiety. Outside the United States, milnacipran already has a track record as an antidepressant. It is similar to duloxetine (Cymbalta), in that both drugs increase the supply of serotonin and norepinephrine (chemical messengers, also known as neurotransmitters) available to your brain. The difference is that milnacipran gives your brain a larger boost in norepinephrine. Neuroscientists refer to this property of milnacipran as “norepinephrine selectivity.” Many studies h
