People living with schizophrenia will soon have a new and potentially innovative treatment available. It is called Cobenfy and it is the first new drug for this mental illness that has been successfully developed in more than 70 years.
Cobenfy, now approved by the FDA, is unique because it targets the neurotransmitter acetylcholine rather than focusing on dopamine, like traditional treatments for schizophrenia. This could be a game-changer for patients who have not responded well to current medications or who struggle with their side effects. With its approval, there is new hope of being able to better manage this difficult disease.
“This drug takes the first new approach to treating schizophrenia in decades. “This approval offers a new alternative to antipsychotic medications previously prescribed to people with schizophrenia,” said Tiffany Farchione, director of the Division of Psychiatry, Office of Neuroscience, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA, in the FDA report. the FDA. advertisement of its approval.
Schizophrenia It is a serious psychiatric disorder, characterized by having intrusive thoughts, beliefs and perceptions that are out of touch with reality. Less than one percent of the population has schizophrenia, which usually emerges in early adulthood, but is a devastating condition that can constantly destroy people’s lives, especially if not treated well. Current antipsychotic drugs and other interventions can reduce symptoms such as hallucinations, but many people do not respond to them or cannot tolerate their serious side effects, such as weight gain or sexual dysfunction. Therefore, researchers have long been trying to find and develop new ways to treat schizophrenia that can overcome these limitations.
Over the years, scientists have created more tolerable antipsychotics, but all of these medications have worked on the same basic principle of Targeted at the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine. in our brain (some symptoms of schizophrenia, particularly hallucinations, are related to too much dopamine in certain regions of the brain, while others are related to too little dopamine elsewhere). However, dopamine is not the only neurotransmitter involved in schizophrenia, and simply adjusting this lever is often not enough to control the disease. Cobenfy (formerly KarXT) is the first schizophrenia drug to use a new mechanism of action since the 1950s, and the first to specifically target the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
The drug (taken in pill form twice a day) is actually two drugs in one: xanomeline and trospium chloride. Xanomeline stimulates two key receptors found on brain cells that interact with acetylcholine: muscarinic acetylcholine receptors 1 and 4 (M1 and M4). However, in previous research, the drug alone has caused concerning adverse effects by activating these receptors outside the brain, which originally led to its abandonment from clinical development. However, trospium chloride is a muscarinic receptor antagonist that does not significantly cross the blood-brain barrier, which ideally means it can be used to counteract the unwanted effects of xanomeline.
On the grand scale clinical trials Reviewed by the FDA, Cobenfy appeared to work as intended. Compared to placebo, people taking Cobenfy experienced a significant improvement in their schizophrenia symptoms. The drug was also generally safely tolerated, although common side effects included nausea, indigestion, constipation, and vomiting. The drug will also not be recommended for people with a history of kidney or liver failure, urinary retention, or certain forms of glaucoma.
More research will be needed to confirm how well Cobenfy works compared to other antipsychotics. But the simple virtue of being the first in a new class of drugs cannot be underestimated. The drug may help people who have not responded to current therapies, and is likely to pave the way for other, possibly even more effective, iterations that work in a similar way.
“Overall, I think this treatment offers psychiatrists a completely new way of trying to help people with schizophrenia, and I would expect there to be some patients who get considerable benefit from it,” said David Curtis, a psychiatrist and honorary professor at the University College London, in a response obtained by the Science Media Center of the United Kingdom.
However, as monumental as this medication is, it may not be cheap for many people. Bristol Meyer Squibbs has stated that the drug’s list price, before insurance and rebates, will be $1,850 for a monthly supply or $22,500 a year, although the company is set to start a program that will help support patients . It is expected to hit the market at the end of October.