Johnson and Johnson receives approval for Invega

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has announced that Health Canada has approved Invega (paliperidone) for treatment of schizophrenia.

Invega is presented as the only once-daily oral treatment for schizophrenia and uses J&J’s Oros technology in order to deliver and sustain a controlled level of medication throughout the day.

Health Canada’s announcement follows a series of clinical trials for Invega showing that the medication can significantly improve symptoms of schizophrenia and the overall severity of patients’ illness.

In these trials efficacy was measured using both the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) to measure the severity of patients’ symptoms and Clinical Global Impression Severity Scale (CGI-S) to measure the severity of the overall illness.

Dr Hani Iskandar, assistant professor of psychiatry at McGill University, has underlined the importance of life-long management of the disease for patients with schizophrenia.

“When not properly managed, it can have a profound effect not only on the individual’s wellbeing, but also on the health care system. With more treatment options, clinicians have a better chance of finding a therapy that works and that patients will stay on.”

Earlier this year, Johnson & Johnson announced a number of plans to restructure the firm with the aim of achieving annual cost savings of $1.3-$1.6 billion (642-790 million pounds) while guaranteeing continued growth in the future and ongoing investment in business opportunities.