AstraZeneca schizophrenia drug tipped as patents end

A report published by a pharmaceutical advisory firm has revealed that a drug developed by AstraZeneca and Targacept is likely to be the first compound on the market for the treatment of the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.

Ispronicline and other drugs aimed at treating the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia will boost the market in such therapies by $1 billion (525 million pounds) between 2010 and 2015, with such treatments being used in conjunction with antipsychotic drugs, Decision Resources predicted.

It was also forecast that current strong growth in the drug market for the treatment of schizophrenia will come to a halt as the patents expire on a number of antipsychotics.

Protection in some territories on Eli Lilly’s Zyprexa (olanzapine), Pfizer’s Geodon/Zeldox (ziprasidone), Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka’s Abilify (aripiprazole), Janssen’s Risperdal and Reisperdal Consta (risperidone) and AstraZeneca’s own Seroquel (quetiapine) are all due to expire between now and 2015.

Nitasha Machanda, an analyst at Decision Resources, said: “In 2015, approximately 70 per cent of drug-treated patients will be treated with a generic antipsychotic.”

In December last year, AstraZeneca signed a partnership agreement with Targacept that included a phase II pharmaceutical then known as TC-1734, a drug being tested for the treatment of cognitive symptoms in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia.