Old drugs get a new lease of life

The list of unwanted side effects of any given drug seems endless and repetitive but a German led team has mined this information to work out possible new uses of drugs that have already been tested for other uses.

Although further research will be necessary to back the work, the findings indicate that 260 drugs already on the market (and established as safe) may have additional uses beyond what they’re currently prescribed for and, of 20 tested so far, 13 show promise.

The Alzheimer’s treatment Donepezil, for example, proved to share a target with the anti-depressant Venlafaxine, supporting that Donepezil could be also used to treat depression. And zaleplon, a sedative used on insomniacs, had the same effect as mirazapine, another antidepressant, while the antidepressant Prozac had similar effects to the anti ulcer drug rabeprazole, and reloxifine, used to prevent osteoporosis, could mimic the effects of tegaserod, used for constipation and irritable bowel syndrome.