First novel Schizophrenia treatment in decades gains FDA approval

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The first new kind of treatment for schizophrenia patients in decades is arriving. The U.S.

Food and Drug Administration approved the drug on Thursday, greenlighting the first of a new class of treatments that could help stabilize patients’ symptoms without the uncomfortable side effects that accompany existing antipsychotics. The new drug, called Cobenfy, works differently than the class of drugs used by many Americans today to treat schizophrenia, ones with such troublesome side effects that many people skip taking them. The Bristol-Myers Squibb drug works by mobilizing a new target in the brain that scientists made inroads researching only in the past couple of decades.

“Having a drug that doesn’t produce the classic side effects of the antipsychotic medications means that a lot of people might just take these medications," said John Krystal, a psychiatry professor at the Yale School of Medicine, who wasn’t involved in Cobenfy’s development. Krystal was an investigator in a trial studying a competing drug from AbbVie. The treatment was the centerpiece of Bristol’s $14 billion acquisition of Karuna Therapeutics.

People will be able to get the pill, taken twice a day, as soon as next month, according to Bristol Chief Commercial Officer Adam Lenkowsky. A 30-day supply will cost $1,850 before insurance and other discounts, according to the company. The price is in line with other branded oral antipsychotics, and Bristol considered the longstanding gap in drug development and accessibility in its pricing, a Bristol spokeswoman said.