FDA approves new type of schizophrenia drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved a new drug used for treating schizophrenia in adults, according to a press release.

“This drug takes the first new approach to schizophrenia treatment in decades,” said Tiffany Farchione, the director of the Division of Psychiatry, Office of Neuroscience in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “This approval offers a new alternative to the antipsychotic medications people with schizophrenia have previously been prescribed.”

The drug, Cobenfy, is the first anti-psychotic drug approved to treat schizophrenia that targets a different receptor than what has typically been the standard of care, the release said.

“Schizophrenia is a leading cause of disability worldwide. It is a severe, chronic mental illness that is often damaging to a person’s quality of life,” Farchione added.

According to the press release, about 1 percent of Americans have schizophrenia and the condition is one of the 15 leading causes of disability. People with the illness are at greater risk of dying at a younger age and nearly 5 percent of deaths are linked to suicide, the release said.

The approval was granted by the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.