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First Pill for Postpartum Depression Shows Varied Real-World Results

First Pill for Postpartum Depression Shows Varied Real-World Results

New York Times6 days ago
Depression descended on Samantha Cohn about two months after her baby boy was born.
He was thriving, but she became convinced she was a terrible mother. 'I felt like I wasn't doing enough, I wasn't doing anything right,' she said. She began to think her son and husband might be better off without her. When the baby was about 5 months old, she tried to take her life with a gun.
Ms. Cohn, 30, who lives near Fayetteville, N.C., was hospitalized for weeks and underwent surgeries to repair damage to her jaw, nose, tongue and face. But her postpartum depression remained challenging to treat. The hospital's maternal mental health specialists decided to have her try a medication that had recently become available: the first pill specifically for postpartum depression.
Clinical trials had found that the drug, zuranolone, marketed as Zurzuvae and taken daily for 14 days, can ease symptoms for some women in as little as three days, while general antidepressants can take weeks. For Ms. Cohn, its impact was swift and striking. On her fourth day of taking it, she said she suddenly 'felt so much clarity in my head, like I didn't have nagging thoughts about not being good enough.'
Now, a year and a half after the drug became available, thousands of women have tried it, and their experiences have run the gamut. For some, symptoms improved remarkably. Others described a modest benefit that didn't last or said their depression persisted. And others didn't complete the two-week regimen because profound drowsiness, a common side effect of the drug, interfered with their ability to care for their babies or to fulfill other responsibilities.
One in eight women in the United States experiences depression during pregnancy or in the year after giving birth, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, and effective treatments are crucially needed. While the fast-acting pill shows promise, doctors say the challenge now is to determine which patients will benefit and why some don't.
Clinical trials of the drug found that postpartum depression improved in about 60 percent of patients. 'It's not everyone,' Dr. Samantha Meltzer-Brody, a leader of the trials and director of the Center for Women's Mood Disorders at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said at a National Institutes of Health conference. 'So, what is it about the people that are going to respond versus those that don't?'
Stacey, 42, of San Diego, who asked to be identified by her first name to protect her privacy, said Zurzuvae made her 'so tired' that after several days of taking it, 'I just felt like a zombie.'
'I actually felt more depressed while I was on it,' she said.
To address Stacey's response to the medication, Dr. Alison Reminick, director of women's reproductive mental health at the University of California, San Diego, advised her to take half doses for the rest of the 14 days. But Stacey said she stopped Zurzuvae altogether, halfway through the regimen, because the sluggishness made it difficult to care for her baby.
'The medication is incredibly sedating,' Dr. Reminick said. 'There's a warning on the box. They can't drive for 12 hours after taking it and they can't really take care of their children without help.'
Yet, some patients don't experience sedation and others welcome it because it helps them get much-needed sleep and feel less overwhelmed, said doctors who prescribe Zurzuvae.
The week after Ms. Cohn started taking Zurzuvae, the turnaround of her symptoms was so obvious that she was discharged from the hospital. 'She had a really nice improvement of her postpartum depression with that medicine,' said Dr. Riah Patterson, a psychiatrist at U.N.C. Chapel Hill.
Ms. Cohn finished the 14-day regimen at home and attended intensive outpatient therapy for months. Now, she has gone back to work as a tattoo artist, and she said that with weekly therapy and an anxiety medication, she is managing the aftermath of the crisis, including undergoing additional surgeries.
'I'm just excited to get a little bit closer to really being me again,' she said. She no longer feels anxious about her parenting ability and enjoys playing with her son and taking him to places like the local children's museum. 'He makes everything worth pushing through.'
Importance of quick intervention
Zurzuvae is a synthetic version of a steroid called allopregnanolone that originates in the brain. The theory behind the medication is that perinatal depression often arises as hormones that surge in pregnancy plummet during childbirth. Some women seem particularly sensitive to that sudden drop-off, which also lowers levels of the steroid, Dr. Meltzer-Brody said.
Zurzuvae can be taken with other antidepressants, and, since it is prescribed for only a single 14-day course, some doctors use it as an adjunct or bridge to ease severe symptoms before longer-term use of antidepressants.
Some patients who are breastfeeding have declined to take the drug because its penetration of breast milk has not yet been studied. Doctors said it is likely safe, but if patients are concerned, they might pump two weeks' worth of milk before starting Zurzuvae.
Initial logistical hurdles in obtaining Zurzuvae frustrated doctors who said the delays undermined the purpose of a quick-acting medication. Some insurers initially set strict conditions for covering the drug, which has a list price of $15,900. Doctors said some insurers required patients to try other antidepressants first or to obtain prescriptions from psychiatrists, steps that went beyond the F.D.A. requirements for Zurzuvae.
Joy Burkhard, chief executive of the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health, said most insurers and Medicaid no longer have such barriers, but a few still require extra steps.
Zurzuvae is not available in retail pharmacies, only specialty pharmacies that require patients to take various measures to validate insurance and delivery information, according to a spokeswoman for the drug's manufacturer, Sage Therapeutics, which markets Zurzuvae in partnership with Biogen.
Chris Benecchi, the chief operating officer of Sage, which is expected to be acquired by Supernus Pharmaceuticals later this year, said Sage had worked to resolve logistical issues and prescriptions had increased. More than 10,000 orders have been sent to patients so far, Sage said, adding that about 80 percent of the prescriptions were issued by obstetrician-gynecologists, Sage said.
'The majority of patients are able to get the medication within days,' Mr. Benecchi said, adding that if patients encounter delays, Sage will ship Zurzuvae directly 'as rapidly as possible.'
Quick access is crucial, doctors say. Hannah Ginther was hospitalized for a week last summer at U.N.C. Chapel Hill for symptoms that included obsessively worrying that her second child, then 10 months old, had a neurological disorder, even though doctors said the baby did not.
'I just couldn't get out of that loop of jumping to worst-case-scenario,' Ms. Ginther, 36, said at her home in Wilmington, N.C. 'I would throw up. I struggled to get out of bed, struggled to do basic, daily-living things.'
When she was discharged from the hospital, doctors prescribed Zurzuvae, but her insurance rejected coverage, saying she would qualify only if she had developed postpartum depression in her last trimester of pregnancy, or within four weeks after childbirth, Dr. Patterson said. Ultimately, the hospital appealed to Sage, which sent the drug to Ms. Ginther at no cost.
But the insurance hiccups had caused a two-week delay, during which, Ms. Ginther said, her symptoms 'spiraled again.' She was rehospitalized for nine days. Dr. Julia Riddle, a psychiatrist at U.N.C. Chapel Hill, said the second hospitalization might have been avoided if the Zurzuvae had arrived sooner.
By the time it reached Ms. Ginther, she had been stabilized with other medications and intensive therapy. She said Zurzuvae didn't add much, except possibly further improving her mood and sleep.
'I think if we had been able to have access to Zurzuvae sooner, it would have shortened some of the pain, but they were able to find other medications that helped me,' Ms. Ginther said. She has since reduced her workload and continues taking Prozac. She has no intrusive thoughts and is 'doing much better,' she said.
Effective for some, but not all
As doctors try to determine which patients Zurzuvae can help, Jenny Sharma's experience illustrates the complexity. Ms. Sharma, 43, of San Diego, had a history of depression, especially linked to menstruation, but it was not as severe as the depression she experienced after giving birth in August 2023. Several months later, she began feeling suicidal and she said she also had 'homicidal thoughts toward the baby,' vivid and terrifying images.
She sought help from Dr. Reminick's program, trying different medications over several months. While taking Zurzuvae, her symptoms improved. 'I felt wonderful,' she said.
Dr. Reminick said Ms. Sharma's response to Zurzuvae was 'the best I've ever seen her.' But, she said, about 11 days into the 14-day regimen, Ms. Sharma started speaking haltingly and appeared to have 'cognitive difficulties, whole body shaking and twitching, confusion and dizziness.'
Dr. Reminick said it was unclear whether those symptoms were linked to Zurzuvae or to another medication. Overall, she said she considered Zurzuvae a 'good fit' for Ms. Sharma, but her improvement didn't last.
'About a month later, my symptoms all came raging back,' Ms. Sharma said. Afraid that she would harm her baby, she visited an emergency room and then had several psychiatric hospitalizations and electroconvulsive therapy. Eventually, with other medications and some supplements, her mental health stabilized, although she occasionally experiences brief periods of depressive thoughts, she said.
In clinical trials, patients helped by Zurzuvae continued doing well 45 days later. About half of those who took Zurzuvae were considered to be in remission. Dr. Riddle is following patients to see if the benefit can last longer.
'No one's illness is exactly the same,' Dr. Riddle said. So far 'no one has said they'd never take it again, it's just varying levels of how helpful it was.'
For Kara Fiscus, 37, of Sacramento, the benefit has lasted more than a year. Her depression began about five months after her son was born in May 2023. She felt so overwhelmed that she wrote in her journal, 'I should kill myself.'
Ms. Fiscus, a former N.F.L. cheerleader, said she had been prepared for some depression because she had mental health challenges in her teens and 20s. But her postpartum symptoms, especially anxiety over not producing enough breast milk and about her baby's weight, were worse than anything she had experienced.
'When you have a child and you're not able to meet their needs, it's no longer that your life is not meeting your own standards — you feel like an impediment to other people,' she said.
Her obstetrician, Dr. Hailey MacNear, prescribed Zoloft and, when that didn't work, Prozac. But before enough time had passed to know whether Prozac could help, Ms. Fiscus began planning to take her own life.
After calling Dr. MacNear, she entered a partial hospitalization program followed by intensive outpatient treatment, but continued thinking of ending her life.
Then, Dr. MacNear prescribed Zurzuvae, which had just become available. On the third day, Ms. Fiscus realized, ''Oh my god, I haven't thought about killing myself in at least 20 minutes.'' And 'by Day 7, I was feeling really, really great.'
Dr. MacNear said that not every patient experienced similar improvement and that some declined to try it because of the sedative effects. But she said Ms. Fiscus called her and 'cried with relief' after taking it.
While taking Zurzuvae, Ms. Fiscus continued breastfeeding and returned to work, eventually becoming an official at a nonprofit. She still takes Prozac, but credits Zurzuvae with ending her thoughts of self-harm. She even saved the box.
'It's a comfort seeing it,' she said. 'There's hope in that box.'
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach a lifeline for help, or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources. If you or someone you know is struggling with a perinatal mental health condition like postpartum depression, call the Postpartum Support International Helpline (1-800-944-4773) or go to postpartum.net.
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Genentech and Roche Present New Insights in Alzheimer's Disease Research Across Its Diagnostics and Pharmaceutical Portfolios at AAIC
Genentech and Roche Present New Insights in Alzheimer's Disease Research Across Its Diagnostics and Pharmaceutical Portfolios at AAIC

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Genentech and Roche Present New Insights in Alzheimer's Disease Research Across Its Diagnostics and Pharmaceutical Portfolios at AAIC

– Trontinemab's Phase Ib/IIa Brainshuttle™ AD study continues to show rapid and robust clearance of amyloid plaques, with 91% becoming amyloid PET negative and ARIA-E remaining <5% – – Design of the Phase III TRONTIER 1 and 2 studies of trontinemab in early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease featured, with initiation planned in 2025 – – Plans for new Phase III trial investigating trontinemab in preclinical Alzheimer's disease, in people at high risk of cognitive decline – – New real-world data support Elecsys pTau217 as a standalone blood test, comparable to a PET scan, for rule-in and rule-out identification of amyloid pathology – SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., July 28, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today that new data from its Alzheimer's development portfolio is being presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) in Toronto, Canada (July 27-30). These data exemplify the comprehensive approach Roche is taking in addressing Alzheimer's across the entire patient journey. Featured oral presentations include the latest results from the ongoing Phase Ib/IIa Brainshuttle™ AD study, which continue to support rapid and robust reduction of amyloid plaques, and design of the Phase III TRONTIER 1 and 2 studies of investigational trontinemab for early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease, with initiation planned later this year. As part of its growing Alzheimer's development program, Roche announced today its plans for an additional Phase III trial to investigate trontinemab in preclinical Alzheimer's disease. The trial will focus on individuals at risk of cognitive decline, with the goal of potentially delaying or preventing the progression of the disease to symptomatic stages. "Alzheimer's disease represents one of the greatest challenges in healthcare today and tackling it requires early detection and effective therapeutics," said Levi Garraway, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer and head of Global Product Development. "Trontinemab is designed to target a key driver of Alzheimer's disease biology more effectively in the brain. Combining new treatment avenues with advanced diagnostics may enable earlier and potentially more effective intervention. With plans for Phase III trials in both early symptomatic and preclinical Alzheimer's disease, we are advancing science with the goal of delaying—and ultimately preventing—progression of this devastating condition." Late-breaking oral and poster presentations highlight the potential of Roche's Elecsys® pTau217 as a reliable and accessible blood-based biomarker test, providing comparable results to PET scan and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diagnostics for rule-in and rule-out diagnosis of amyloid pathology, a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, across care settings. The test, which received Breakthrough Device Designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year, will also be utilized in Roche's TRONTIER studies. "Blood based testing for Alzheimer's disease has the potential to greatly improve patient access and decrease the time to definitive disease diagnosis," said Matt Sause, CEO of Roche Diagnostics. "Our data show that the Elecsys pTau217 test performs comparably to PET scans but can be performed with a simple blood draw and analyzed in a routine clinical laboratory. This has the potential to transform the diagnosis of Alzheimer's and provide clear answers to caregivers, patients, and their families." Up to 75% of people living with symptoms of Alzheimer's disease globally have not been diagnosed, and those who have, waited an average of 2.8 years, and even less have received any form of treatment. Diagnostics play a crucial role in addressing the global challenge of Alzheimer's, not only to detect and identify people with the disease early, even before the first symptoms, but also to rule out those who may or may not benefit from specific treatments. Pharmaceuticals In a 90-minute Featured Research session, designs were shared for the Phase III studies, TRONTIER 1 and 2, which will initiate later this year, investigating the efficacy and safety of investigational trontinemab in people with early Alzheimer's disease. The primary endpoint will measure the change in cognition and function based on the Clinical Dementia Rating – Sum of Boxes scale after 18 months of treatment. Secondary endpoints will include assessments of cognition, function, behavioral symptoms, and quality of life. A pre-screening study, TRAVELLER, based on a brief clinical assessment and a plasma biomarker, which will be identified using the Elecsys pTau217 test, has also been initiated, to enable broader community outreach and extend access to these trials to more diverse populations representative of Alzheimer's disease. New data on the latest results for trontinemab from the completed dose-expansion part of the 1.8 mg/kg and 3.6 mg/kg cohorts from the ongoing Phase Ib/IIa Brainshuttle AD study continued to show rapid and robust reduction of amyloid plaques in the brain as measured by amyloid positron emission tomography (PET). In the 3.6 mg/kg cohort, trontinemab reduced amyloid levels below the 24 centiloid positivity threshold in 91% of participants (n=49/54) after 28 weeks of treatment; 72% (n=39/54) achieved deep clearance below 11 centiloids. These data were reinforced by early and significant reductions in fluid biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease, including total tau, phosphorylated Tau (pTau)181, pTau217, and neurogranin measured in CSF and continues to show a favourable safety and tolerability profile. Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities-edema/effusion (ARIA-E) continued to be observed in <5% of participants (blinded data; N=4/149 across 1.8 and 3.6 mg/kg dose cohorts). All cases were radiographically mild, one was associated with mild and transient symptoms. Diagnostics Roche will present data on a new study comparing the pTau217/Ab42 plasma ratio to the high-throughput, fully automated Elecsys pTau217 assay. The presentation will report on the accuracy of these tools in detecting amyloid pathology. Together with the high throughput and full automation of the assay, these data will assess the potential of Elecsys pTau217 as an accurate standalone rule-in and rule-out test that could be scaled up for broad implementation in routine clinical practice worldwide. Additionally, results from a cohort-based model of healthcare utilization in the U.S. demonstrated that using the Elecsys® pTau181 blood-based rule-out test in primary care scenarios improved diagnostic accuracy and reduced resource use compared with the current standard-of-care clinical, cognitive and imaging tests. If made available in primary care settings, the Roche Elecsys® pTau181 blood test has the potential to reliably avoid the need for further confirmatory testing in nearly all people who receive a negative result. This will avoid the need for these people to undergo unnecessary testing using CSF or PET, which often come with long wait times and high cost, resulting in further delays to diagnosis and cost to healthcare systems. Medicine Abstract title Presentation number (type) Presentation date (session) Time Abstracts will be available on the AAIC website. Pharmaceuticals Next wave of innovation in Alzheimer's disease therapeutics: The value of novel active transport mechanisms Featured Research Session (FRS), Talk 1 Room 718 27 July 2025, 2pm - 3:30pm EDT Cath Mummery, Roberto Villaseñor, Jens Niewoehner, Scarlett Barker, Luka Kulic Latest results from the dose-expansion part (Part 2) of the Brainshuttle™ AD study of trontinemab in people with Alzheimer's disease Featured Research Session (FRS), Talk 2 Room 718 27 July 2025, 2pm - 3:30pm EDT Luka Kulic, Fabien Alcaraz, Gregory Klein, Stephen Salloway, Carsten Hofmann, João A. Abrantes, Stella Yilmaz, Denise Sickert, Maddalena Marchesi, Jakub Wojtowicz, Andres Schneider, Ruth Croney, David Agnew, Silke Ahlers, Paul Delmar, Hanno Svoboda, Iris Wiesel Interim biomarker results for trontinemab, a novel Brainshuttle™ antibody in development for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease Featured Research Session (FRS), Talk 3 Room 718 27 July 2025, 2pm - 3:30pm EDT Gregory Klein, Gil Rabinovici, Henrik Zetterberg, Matteo Tonietto, Tobias Bittner, Daria Rukina, Fabien Alcaraz, Carsten Hofmann, Maddalena Marchesi, Jakub Wojtowicz, Ruth Croney, David Agnew, João A. Abrantes, Franziska Schaedeli Stark, Silke Ahlers, Paul Delmar, Hanno Svoboda, Iris Wiesel, Luka Kulic TRONTIER 1 and TRONTIER 2: Pivotal trials of trontinemab in early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease Featured Research Session (FRS), Talk 4 Room 718 27 July 2025, 2pm - 3:30pm EDT Janice Smith, Catherine Mummery, Jeffrey L. Cummings, Gil Rabinovici, Stephen Salloway, Reisa Sperling, Henrik Zetterberg, Angeliki Thanasopolou, Christopher Lane, Paul Delmar, Gregory Klein, Ruth Croney, Jakub Wojtowicz, Carsten Hofmann, Luka Kulic, Hideki Garren Diagnostics Evaluating the Impact on Diagnostic Performance and Healthcare Resource Utilization of Introducing a plasma rule-out test in the Alzheimer's Disease Diagnostic Pathway Poster #102729 27 July 2025, 7:30am - 4:15pm EDT Sophie Roth, Gustaf Ortsäter, Joana Amorim Freire Location tbc Evaluating the Clinical Performance of the Elecsys pTau217 Plasma Immunoassay to Detect Amyloid Pathology in a Routine Clinical Practice Cohort Poster #96679 28 July 2025, 7:30am – 4:15pm EDT Sayuri Hortsch, Niels Borlinghaus, Alexander Jethwa, David Caley, Annunziata Di Domenico, Craig Ritchie Clinical performance and effect of pre-analytical variation of plasma pTau217 alone versus the plasma pTau217/Aβ42 ratio for the identification of amyloid pathology Oral Developing Topics #108585 3-23-DEV Developing Topics on Tau Biomarkers 29 July 2025, 2:00pm – 3:30pm EDT Christopher M. Rank, Joana Amorim Freire, Alexander Jethwa, Annunziata Di Domenico, Christina Rabe, Marc Suárez-Calvet, Colin L. Masters, Tobias Bittner Accuracy of cerebrospinal fluid biomarker ratios to determine amyloid positron-emission tomography status: a diagnostic test accuracy meta-analysis Poster #100941 28 July 2025, 7:30am – 4:15pm EDT Pablo Martinez-Lage, Eino Solje, Julian G. Martins, Sraboni Sarkar Equity in diagnosis through adequate clinical trial design in diagnostic performance studies Poster #102804 30 July 2025, 7:30am - 4:15pm EDT Imke Kirste, David Caley, Clara Quijano Rubio, Margherita Carboni Investigating Differences in Patients Enrolled in a Clinical Study Based on Referral Type Poster #108110 30 July 2025, 7:30am - 4:15pm EDT Sophie Roth, Laura Schlieker, Sayuri Hortsch, Joana Amorim Freire, David Caley About trontinemab Trontinemab is an investigational Brainshuttle bispecific 2+1 amyloid-beta targeting monoclonal antibody specifically engineered for enhanced access to the brain to enable rapid reduction of amyloid in people with Alzheimer's disease. Trontinemab is designed for the efficient transport across the blood-brain barrier to target aggregated forms of amyloid beta and remove amyloid plaques in the brain. The uniqueness of trontinemab is based on Roche's proprietary Brainshuttle technology combining an amyloid beta-binding antibody with a transferring receptor (TfR1) shuttle module. As a result, high central nervous system (CNS) exposure of trontinemab may be achieved at low doses, leading to a rapid and deep amyloid clearance. Due to its unique properties, trontinemab might unlock the full potential of disease-modifying monoclonal antibodies by effectively penetrating the brain and potentially leading to slowing of disease progression. About Roche in Alzheimer's Disease With more than two decades of scientific research in Alzheimer's disease, Roche is working towards a day when we can detect and treat the disease early, in order to slow down, stop or even prevent its progression to preserve what makes people who they are. Today, the company's Alzheimer's disease portfolio spans investigational medicines for different targets, types and stages of the disease, including trontinemab. On the diagnostics side, it also includes approved and investigational tools, including digital and blood-based tests and CSF assays, aiming to more effectively detect, diagnose and monitor the disease. Yet the global challenges of Alzheimer's disease go well beyond the capabilities of science, and making a meaningful impact requires collaboration both within the Alzheimer's community and outside of healthcare. Roche will continue to work together with numerous partners with the hope to transform millions of lives. About Genentech in Neuroscience Neuroscience is a major focus of research and development at Genentech. Our goal is to pursue groundbreaking science to develop new treatments that help improve the lives of people with chronic and potentially devastating diseases. Genentech and Roche are investigating more than a dozen medicines for neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Together with our partners, we are committed to pushing the boundaries of scientific understanding to solve some of the most difficult challenges in neuroscience today. About Genentech Founded more than 40 years ago, Genentech is a leading biotechnology company that discovers, develops, manufactures and commercializes medicines to treat patients with serious and life-threatening medical conditions. The company, a member of the Roche Group, has headquarters in South San Francisco, California. For additional information about the company, please visit View source version on Contacts Media Contact: Meghan Hindman (650) 467-6800Advocacy Contact: Jenee Williams (650) 303-2958Investor Contacts: Loren Kalm (650) 225-3217Bruno Eschli +41616875284 Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data

More Data Cement COVID's Impact on Patients With Cancer
More Data Cement COVID's Impact on Patients With Cancer

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More Data Cement COVID's Impact on Patients With Cancer

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MrFluffyFriend Launches XXXXL Calming Dog Bed for Large and Anxious Dogs
MrFluffyFriend Launches XXXXL Calming Dog Bed for Large and Anxious Dogs

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MrFluffyFriend Launches XXXXL Calming Dog Bed for Large and Anxious Dogs

Over 600,000 dogs sleep better already — now available in 48 inch (120cm) & 56 inch (140cm) with up to 60% off and free shipping on Image by MrFluffyFriend LOS ANGELES, July 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MrFluffyFriend, a fast-growing U.S. pet wellness brand known for its calming products, announces the launch of its XXXXL Calming Dog Bed, specially designed for large breeds and dogs prone to anxiety. The oversized beds, now available in 120cm and 140cm, offer unmatched comfort and emotional relief thanks to premium materials and calming features rooted in behavioral science. Made with ultra-soft vegan faux fur, deep orthopedic padding, and a raised rim for added head and neck support, the XXXXL Calming Bed creates a soothing nest-like environment that helps dogs feel safe, supported, and calm — especially during fireworks, thunderstorms, or when left home alone. 'We've helped over 600,000 dogs sleep better with our calming beds,' says a MrFluffyFriend spokesperson. 'Our community asked for something big enough for their Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Huskies — and we listened. This launch is all about showing that big dogs deserve big comfort, too.' According to veterinarians, over 70% of dogs experience anxiety at some point, which can lead to restlessness, whining, and destructive behavior. MrFluffyFriend's calming design mimics a mother's touch, helping to trigger the release of serotonin and reduce stress naturally. Key Features: Sizes: XXXL (48 in / 120 cm) and XXXXL (56 in / 140 cm) Raised rim for orthopedic support and security Ultra-soft faux fur mimics a mother's touch Machine washable cover + water-resistant, non-slip base Hypoallergenic and pet-safe materials Ideal for large breeds and multi-dog households The launch is accompanied by a limited-time offer of up to 60% off, free shipping across the U.S., and a 30-day risk-free trial, making it easier than ever for pet parents to try the product. Early feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with customers praising the bed's luxurious size, fluffiness, and noticeable calming effect. Some report their dogs sleep longer, bark less, and even retreat to the bed during stressful moments like vet visits or fireworks. About MrFluffyFriend Founded with a mission to help pets feel safe, calm, and loved, MrFluffyFriend is a pet lifestyle brand trusted by dog lovers in over 25 countries. From calming beds to wellness accessories, every product is developed with science-backed design and premium materials to ensure pets thrive — emotionally and physically. Learn more at Media Contact: Thomas, H. info@ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

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