New drug for schizophrenics delights experts

Experts expressed excitement Friday after U.S. health regulators approved the first new form of treatment for schizophrenia in decades.

The drug, called Cobenfy, developed by US pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb, works differently than existing treatments and targets so-called cholinergic receptors, not dopamine receptors.

“This drug takes the first new approach to treating schizophrenia in decades,” Tiffany Farchione, a top official at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said in a statement on Thursday.

“This approval provides a new alternative to the antipsychotics previously prescribed to people with schizophrenia,” she said.

Schizophrenia only affects about one percent of Americans, but its effects can be devastating.

It can cause hallucinations, feelings of persecution, and difficulty controlling thoughts. About five percent of diagnosed schizophrenics die by suicide.

Lynsey Bilsland, head of mental health at the Wellcome charity, said Cobenfy “could be a game-changer, particularly for those for whom other medications do not work”.

She added: “It works in a completely different way to any other schizophrenia medication currently used. It has the potential to change the lives of millions of people.”

Cobenfy – its scientific name is “xanomeline and trospium chloride” – is taken orally.

Two clinical studies confirmed its effectiveness and showed that it can significantly relieve patients' symptoms.

Side effects include nausea, vomiting, indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, urinary retention and liver problems.

But compared to current medications, these side effects are “reduced,” said Matt Jones, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Bristol in England.

“This is obviously great news for people with schizophrenia,” he said, pointing out that the drug has not yet received approval in the UK.

Sameer Jauhar, senior clinical lecturer in mood disorders and psychosis at King's College London, said side effects of current medications – including weight gain and sluggishness – could deter some people from continuing treatment.

He said he wanted to see the results of longer-term trials, but quickly added that the positive results so far “represent possibly one of the most exciting developments in our field, and I'm very pleased about that.”

© 2024 AFP