New form of schizophrenia treatment approved in US for first time in decades

US health regulators on Friday approved the first new form of treatment for schizophrenia in decades, AFP reports.

The drug, called Cobenfy and developed by US pharma giant Bristol Myers Squibb, works differently from existing treatments, targeting the so-called cholinergic receptors, not the dopamine receptors.

"This drug takes the first new approach to schizophrenia treatment in decades," Tiffany Farchione, a top official in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said in a statement Thursday.

"This approval offers a new alternative to the antipsychotic medications people with schizophrenia have previously been prescribed," she said.

Schizophrenia affects only some one percent of Americans, but its effects can be devastating.

It can cause hallucinations, feelings of persecution and difficulty in controlling one's thoughts. About five percent of diagnosed schizophrenics die by suicide.

Lynsey Bilsland, who heads the mental health division of the Wellcome charitable foundation, said Cobenfy could be "game-changing, especially for those for whom other drugs do not work."

Cobenfy—its scientific name is "xanomeline and trospium chloride"—is taken orally.

Two clinical trials confirmed its effectiveness, showing it can significantly reduce patients' symptoms.

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