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| |  Study Shows New Schizophrenia Drug is Safer, More Effective TORONTO, April 23, 1997 -- The new drug Zyprexa(R) is safer and more effective at controlling the symptoms of schizophrenia than haloperidol, a widely-used antipsychotic medicine, according to a study in the current issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry. The results of the study, the largest in the history of the development of an anti-psychotic, also found definitive evidence that the new medicine caused far fewer side effects. "For decades, psychiatrists have sought a medication that would effectively and safely treat the full spectrum of symptoms of schizophrenia, while not producing the side effects common to antipsychotic drugs,'' said Dr. Donald Addington, a psychiatrist and Head, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary. The study was a direct comparison of Zyprexa(R) (also known by the chemical name olanzapine) and haloperidol, which has been the world's most commonly-used antipsychotic for more than 30 years. Dr. Addington was one of the Canadian investigators in the controlled clinical trial of 1,996 patients in17 countries. "Based on my own clinical experience and the results of the recent trial, I think it's clear that Zyprexa(R) is superior to haloperidol for many people with schizophrenia,'' says Dr. Addington. Because the magnitude of treatment noncompliance in schizophrenia is profound, I found it significant that fewer olanzapine-treated patients discontinued therapy than did their haloperidol-treated counterparts. Overall, the olanzapine treatment demonstrated a superior and broader spectrum of efficacy in the treatment of schizophrenia and a substantially more favourable safety profile, than haloperidol.'' New guidelines from the American Psychiatric Association for treating schizophrenia include the recommendation that new drugs like olanzapine are "reasonable first-line medications'' for schizophrenia. Zyprexa(R), which was discovered and developed by Eli Lilly and Company, has been available in Canada since November, 1996, and is now covered under the drug benefit programs of Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. It is currently under review in the other provinces. Coverage of schizophrenia medicines under provincial drug formularies is vital, since many people with schizophrenia are unable to work, and are therefore not covered by employee drug benefit plans. "The arrival of a new generation of schizophrenia medications, such as Zyprexa(R), is improving the way we treat this disease,'' said Dr. Addington. "These new medicines may reduce the need for hospitalizing people with schizophrenia. Remaining well and in the community is better for people with schizophrenia and for their families, and can reduce the overall cost of treating the disease.''
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