Amoxapine: a review of literature.

Amoxapine, a new antidepressant, is a tricyclic debenzoxazepine compound, the demethylated metabolite of the neuroleptic loxapine. In animal pharmacological studies, amoxapine has shown striking similarities to imipramine. In contrast to the prototype antidepressant drug, however, amoxapine does not interact with serotonin. In 10 uncontrolled clinical trials amoxapine was shown to have antidepressant effects in the dosage range of 100-300 mg/day. This was verified in 10 published standard, and placebo and standard controlled clinical studies in which amoxapine was superior to placebo and equal in overall therapeutic efficacy to imipramine and amitriptyline. Side effects were similar to the reference drugs.