Aripiprazole Safe
October 10, 2002
Bristol-Myers Says Drug Is Safe for Schizophrenia
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
NEW YORK -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said a study found that patients being
treated for schizophrenia could be safely switched to its aripiprazole
medication from other treatments.
The study switched patients to aripiprazole from olanzapine, risperidone and
haloperidol, reportedly without a loss of efficacy.
Bristol-Myers said Thursday that patients not only tolerated the switch but also
reported a reduction in certain side effects. Patients in all groups reported
weight loss.
At a satellite presentation at the 15th Congress of the European College of
Neuropsychopharmacology, Bristol-Myers also reiterated that a year-long study of
1,294 patients showed participants receiving aripiprazole experienced
"significantly greater" improvements in negative and depressive symptoms
compared to patients treated with haloperidol.
In that study, aripiprazole showed "comparable" results to haloperidol in
maintaining response and improvements in patients' positive symptoms,
Bristol-Myers said.
Last month, Bristol-Myers and Japan's Otsuka Pharmaceuticl Co. received
conditional approval from U.S. regulators for aripiprazole, and said they hoped
to bring the drug to market later this year.
The drug, to be marketed as Abilify, was discovered by scientists at Otsuka and
is being developed jointly by Otsuka and Bristol-Myers.
Unlike most drugs used to treat schizophrenia, aripiprazole binds with the
brain's tiny receptors for the chemical dopamine without fully blocking or
stimulating them. As a result, the drug seems to moderate dopamine levels, which
are misaligned in the brains of people who suffer schizophrenia.
Because aripiprazole doesn't block dopamine receptors altogether, the molecule
doesn't appear to cause the stiffness and tremors in patients that characterized
the first generation of schizophrenia drugs. And since it doesn't bind to some
other receptors in the brain, it doesn't seem to cause the troubling side
effects including weight gain, sexual dysfunction or an increased risk of
diabetes.
About two million Americans suffer from schizophrenia, a frequently progressive
disease that causes hallucinations and delusions. Drugs to treat the disease
have been blockbusters. The current market leaders are Zyprexa, from Eli Lilly &
Co., and Risperdal, from Johnson & Johnson. Together, the two drugs had sales of
more than $3 billion in the past year.
Last Updated on
02/20/2005
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