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Eli Lilly seeking a better Zyprexa

In recent testing, new drug effective in treating schizophrenia -- without side effects

By John Russell

Eli Lilly and Co. is testing a new drug for schizophrenia that it says works quickly and safely without resulting in weight gain, a much-criticized side effect of its top-selling antipsychotic drug Zyprexa.

The Indianapolis drug maker recently tested the new drug on more than 100 schizophrenic patients for four weeks and found it was effective in treating hallucinations, delusions, social withdrawal and apathy, according to a paper published today in the journal Nature Medicine.

Patients who took the drug, LY2140023, showed no weight increase, nor did they exhibit adverse effects commonly associated with many schizophrenia medications, such as involuntary movements or muscle stiffness, the paper said.

Lilly said the new drug works in a completely different way than standard treatments. Most currently approved antipsychotic medications work by affecting the neurotransmitters dopamine or serotonin. The new drug is thought to work by affecting another neurotransmitter, glutamate.

Lilly said the new drug is still years away from clinical use for schizophrenia, a disease that affects about 3 million Americans.

The new drug could follow on the heels of Zyprexa, which belongs to a class of medicines commonly called atypical antipsychotics, which were first developed in the 1950s and introduced into clinical practice in the 1970s. For decades, these drugs have been considered the front-line treatment of schizophrenia.

"As good as the atypical antipsychotics are, we need more drugs and better drugs to treat this devastating illness," said Dr. Steven Paul, Lilly's executive vice president of science and technology.

Zyprexa, with sales last year of $4.36 billion, is Lilly's best-selling product by far, but it has also generated huge legal problems. Lilly has paid more than $1 billion to settle tens of thousands of patient lawsuits claiming the company failed to disclose that Zyprexa causes weight gain, diabetes complications and other health problems.

Several states are suing Lilly, claiming it marketed Zyprexa for off-label uses, including treatment of dementia, depression and autism, without warning about its risks.

Zyprexa loses patent protection in 2011, meaning other drug companies can begin selling a cheap, generic version of the drug. Since Zyprexa was launched in 1996, it has been prescribed to about 20 million people worldwide.