• “In primary care settings benzodiazepines are frequently prescribed for psychiatric symptoms, despite their adverse event profile and their potential risk for dependence. The non-benzodiazepine drug etifoxine is a promising agent insofar as it is not associated with dependence. Its efficacy and safety have been evaluated in three double-blind randomized clinical trials in comparison with non-benzodiazepine (buspirone) and benzodiazepines (lorazepam and alprazolam). The three trials point to the anxiolytic properties of etifoxine, demonstrating an overall clinical improvement of patients, and no risk for dependence or rebound effect.”

–D. Stein (European Psychiatry 2015)

  • “In our study, compared to lorazepam (Ativan) group, more patients were responders to treatment in etifoxine group, and more patients were markedly improved (scores 1 and 2 in CGI-global improvement). Our study was designed to compare by a non-inferiority test two psychotropic drugs on the bases of HAM-A differences and led to the conclusion of non- inferiority of etifoxine compared to lorazepam. Clinical response rates, classically used in trials on anxiolytic drugs, were found in favor of the etifoxine group. Another point to underline is the rapid onset of therapeutic effect in etifoxine recipients, from the first week of treatment, as in lorazepam group. This is important to consider.”

–O. Blin (Hum Psychopharmacol Clin Exp 2006)

  • “The safety profile of etifoxine and alprazolam (Xanax) is again consistent with prior work on these agents. Thus, it is notable that treatment-emergent adverse events were more likely to occur in the alprazolam group, and these were significantly more likely to be considered treatment-related by clinicians. Furthermore, more CNS-related adverse events, such as somnolence or sedation, were reported in the alprazolam group, although this difference did not reach statistical significance. Finally, the higher proportion of patients with adverse events in the alprazolam group was particularly apparent after treatment discontinuation. These findings are consistent with consensus statements that highlight cognitive adverse events and the potential for dependence with benzodiazepines. In contrast, etifoxine has a relatively safe adverse event profile, and has the significant clinical advantage of having anxiolytic properties, while not being associated with potential for dependence.”

–D. Stein (Adv Ther 2015)

  • The treatments available so far are very effective but, in many cases, it is not possible to treat their symptoms without suffering adverse effects. In that sense, Professor Dr. Márquez, Director of ADINEU (Assistance, Teaching and Research in Neuroscience) and Honorary President of the AATA (Argentine Association of Anxiety Disorders) said: “Since last year we started to explore in Argentina the efficacy of a new anxiolytic that has a long history in several European countries but that had not been available to us until now. What is most striking about this drug is the data about its tolerability, which is the current challenge of the treatment of anxiety.”
  • “It is a new alternative because although psychiatrists have enough tools to ensure control of the anxious manifestations of almost all patients, in many cases it was necessary to pay a high cost in adverse effects on quality of life such as sedation, induction of sleep, excessive muscle relaxation, weight gain, sexual dysfunctions and sometimes even phenomena of habituation and effects on memory and other cognitive processes.”

-Dr. Miguel Márquez Psychiatrist and Director of ADINEU, Center dedicated to Assistance, Teaching and Research in Neuroscience, University of Buenos Aries (Google Translated)

  • “Study of effectiveness and adverse effects of etifoxine compared with clonazepam (Klonopin) in the treatment of anxiety disorders in primary care patients: We contacted these patients in the waiting room and, in order to obtain the sample, we treated 3,800 patients, who were screened and the diagnosis of anxious disorder was later confirmed with CIDI. Then 294 patients were invited to participate, who were divided into two groups: one experimental and one control. In the background it is a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial with parallel groups. Once the person entered the study, they were treated for 12 weeks, then the therapy was discontinued and after 24 weeks, that is, 12 weeks later, the test batteries were re-applied. All of the above for the purpose of determining if the medication produced an effect and, eventually, how long that effect was maintained once the treatment was finished. It is a clinical trial with the characteristics of being a double-blind, randomized study. The results seem clear to us to the extent that etifoxine appears as a drug that is more effective and produces fewer side effects than clonazepam, which we chose as the object of study because it is the most widely used medicine in Chile as anxiolytic at all levels health So, it seemed relevant to compare a relatively new and new molecule, such as etifoxine, with the drug that is widely used. Etifoxine is more effective and produces fewer side effects, and the results are maintained in favor of etifoxine at 24 weeks.”

– Dr. Benjamin Vicente, LXXI Chilean Congress of the Society of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery 2016 (Sonepsyn) (Google Translated)