Shire: Intuniv users experience 'significant' improvements with ADHD symptoms

NEW ORLEANS British drug maker Shire presented late-stage clinical study data at a psychiatric meeting Friday indicating that administration of one of its drugs along with stimulants provided symptom relief in children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Shire said that patients ages 6 to 17 years given the drug Intuniv (guanfacine) along with stimulants experienced “significant” symptom improvement compared with those taking placebo. The 455 patients in the phase 3 study were given Intuniv in the morning, in the evening or placebo plus stimulants.

“A considerable number of pediatric patients with ADHD experience a suboptimal response to stimulant treatment for their ADHD,” study leader and Harvard Medical School medical professor Timothy Wilens said in a statement. “We hope that these new data from a large multisite controlled study evaluating the efficacy and safety of extended-release guanfacine co-administered with stimulants for the treatment of ADHD in children and adolescents will be helpful to clinicians in the management of their patients with ADHD.”