Indivior launches schizophrenia treatment in US

Perseris is an extended-release injectable formulation containing the commonly prescribed active ingredient risperidone, which received approval by the US drug regulator last year. The company has said it will market the drug with a sales force consisting of roughly 50 staff.

A severe mental disorder characterised by acute psychotic episodes, schizophrenia is estimated to affect 23m people worldwide and requires ongoing management. Symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, social withdrawal, avolition, impaired sustained attention and working memory, anxiety and depression, hostility and aggression, and increased risk of suicide.

Noting that many sufferers are unable to perceive their illness and can therefore stop taking their medication, Indivior developed this long-acting formulation to provide patients with steady concentrations of the active drug over the course of a month.

"Schizophrenia is a complex disease and part of the complexity is that a patient may not recognize that they are ill and therefore not see the need to take medicine," said Invidior chief medical officer, Anne Andorn.

She added that reducing the symptoms of schizophrenia "is very important to help reduce the abnormal behaviors that can lead to the stigma of this disease".

Perseris, which has to be administered by a doctor or nurse, is injected under the skin into a large muscle such as the buttock or shoulder where it forms a 'depot' of the drug that is released over an entire month.

Like all anti-psychotic drugs, risperidone blocks dopamine to decrease psychotic behaviour, but it also blocks serotonin, which makes it more effective in treatment of bipolar disorder and other conditions like aggression in autism.