Pfizer’s Reboxetine Doesn’t Quell Depression, Analysis Finds

Pfizer Inc.’s antidepressant reboxetine, sold for more than a decade in Europe, is no more effective than a placebo at treating symptoms of depression, according to an analysis that included unpublished studies.

After examining unpublished data on the drug, researchers at the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care found that published studies overestimated reboxetine’s benefit by 115 percent when compared to a dummy pill and 23 percent compared with other antidepressants, according to a report today in the British Medical Journal.