- U.S. FDA approved Cobenfy, a new drug combining xanomeline and trospium chloride, for treating schizophrenia with a novel mechanism that avoids older drugs’ side effects.
- Cobenfy is the first antipsychotic targeting cholinergic receptors instead of dopamine receptors.
- Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder affecting 1 in 100 people.
- It reduces life expectancy by 13-15 years and has a suicide risk of 5%.
- The disorder is slightly more common in men and often manifests in late adolescence or early adulthood.
- Schizophrenia symptoms fall into three categories:
- Reality distortion e.g., delusions, hallucinations
- Disorganization e.g., cognitive impairment, poor judgement and memory.
- Negative symptoms e.g., reduced speech, lack of motivation.
- Schizophrenia is a multifactorial disorder with genetic, neurodevelopmental, and environmental risk factors.
Dig Deeper: Read about other psychiatric disorders.
