Johnson and Johnson subsidiary reveals Invega benefits

Patients suffering from schizophrenia were able to better control their symptoms and experience improvements in their social and personal functioning following the administration of Invega, a recent study has found.

According to the US marketers of the oral medication, Janssen, LP, of the 1,083 patients studied at 168 research centres across North America, Europe, Asia and South Africa, those that were given Invega over the course of the 52-week trial were found to have experienced both short-term and longer-term improvements.

The study followed on from a previous series of six-week long placebo-controlled trials which demonstrated efficacy and tolerability for the extended-release version of Invega by schizophrenia patients.

Commenting on the results, Herb Meltzer, the Bixler May Johnson Professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said: “I am encouraged by the results of this pooled analysis because of the need for antipsychotic treatment options that provide effective symptom control, good tolerability and which help sustain the ability of patients to function over the long-term.”

The data was presented by Janssen at the recent International Congress on Schizophrenia research and the release of the results comes after the US Food and Drug Administration approved Invega’s use for the treatment of patients last December.