Zuranolone

Zuranolone is a neuroactive steroid that acts as a positive allosteric modulator of the GABA receptors. Unlike other more common GABA positive allosteric modulators on the market like benzodiazepines, zuranolone can modulate both synaptic and extrasynaptic GABA conductance due to binding to a non-benzodiazepine site on the receptor. Zuranolone was designed with a pharmacological profile of a neuroactive steroid in mind while also possessing a pharmacokinetics profile of an oral, once-daily dosing formulation.

Zuranolone was approved by the FDA on August 4th, 2023, and it is currently the only approved treatment for women with postpartum depression. This approval was based on favorable results from 2 phase 3 clinical trials.