New drug for schizophrenics has experts excited

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

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

“This drug is 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 Thursday.

“This approval provides a new alternative to the antipsychotic medications that people with schizophrenia have previously been prescribed,” she said.

Schizophrenia only affects about one percent of Americans, but the consequences can be devastating.

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

Lynsey Bilsland, head of the mental health unit at the Wellcome charity, said Cobenfy “could be game-changing, especially for those for whom other medicines don’t work.”

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

Cobenfy – the scientific name is ‘xanomeline and trospium chloride’ – is taken orally.

Two clinical trials confirmed its effectiveness and showed that it can significantly reduce patients’ symptoms.

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

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

“It’s obviously great news for people with schizophrenia,” he said, noting the drug has yet to be approved in Britain.

Sameer Jauhar, senior clinical lecturer in affective disorders and psychosis at King’s College London, said the side effects of current medications – including weight gain and sluggishness – could put some people off continuing treatment.

He said he wants to see results from longer-term studies, but quickly added that the positive results so far amount to “potentially one of the most exciting developments in our field, and I’m very excited about this.”

© 2024 AFP