New Schizophrenia Drug Shows Promise in Trials

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Existing drugs are reasonably good at treating the hallucinations and delusions of schizophrenia. But they are far less effective at treating the so-called negative symptoms of the disease — the lack of motivation and emotion that leave many patients unable to work or have normal social relationships. The side effects of existing medicines, which affect nearly all patients, are also severe. Older drugs like Thorazine often cause tics and movement disorders, while newer medicines typically have fewer effects on movement but can cause weight gain and other metabolic changes.

In the clinical trial whose results were reported yesterday, LY2140023 had none of those side effects and appeared to work about as well as Zyprexa at reducing symptoms.