APA meeting 2009: new schizophrenia products and depot formulations

An article posted on May 31st by PipelineReview.com:

The annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association is the year's largest psychiatry event. This year's conference in San Francisco indicated that long-acting depot versions of atypical antipsychotics continue to prove useful tools in the treatment of schizophrenia. In addition, new potential market entrants reported mixed data from new oral antipsychotics.

Although the majority of antipsychotics are now broadly used across most psychiatric conditions, the schizophrenia market continues to attract attention from developers of both novel antipsychotics and new formulations aimed at addressing the major unmet need of compliance.

The long-dosing regimen and intramuscular administration of long-acting injectable depot formulations of atypical antipsychotics results in a greater transparency of compliance. Eli Lilly presented new data for Zypadhera (olanzapine long-acting injection), as it continues to seek US approval and enter the market that Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has pioneered through Risperdal Consta (risperidone long-acting injection).

Data from new oral atypical antipsychotics were also presented. Vanda followed up the recent surprise approval of oral Fanapt (iloperidone) by presenting two posters detailing comparative data. Dainippon Sumitomo, meanwhile, provided delegates the first chance to see Phase III data for lurasidone.

To read the entire article, please click here.

Also see:

Newer Treatments for Schizophrenia: Benefits and Drawbacks

Schering asks EU to approve schizophrenia drug

Invega introduced into the United Kingdom

Visit New Treatment for Schizophrenia Licensed in the UK.

Can you tell the difference between the molecular structures of

paliperidone [Invega(TM)]

and


risperidone?

For more information on paliperidone, click here.

Randomized Comparison of Olanzapine Versus Risperidone for the Treatment of First-Episode Schizophrenia: 4-Month Outcomes

A recent article published by the American Journal of Psychiatry:

The authors compared 4-month treatment outcomes for olanzapine versus risperidone in patients with first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

Clinical outcomes with risperidone were equal to those with olanzapine, and response may be more stable. Olanzapine may have an advantage for motor side effects. Both medications caused substantial rapid weight gain, but weight gain was greater with olanzapine.