"ALKS 3831 Mitigates Weight Gain in Phase 3 Schizophrenia Study"
Patients with schizophrenia treated with ALKS 3831, a combination of olanzapine and samidorphan, had less weight gain than those treated with olanzapine alone, according to a presentation from the 2019 Congress of the Schizophrenia International Research Society. “It was important to conduct this research because there is a need for new treatment options for patients with schizophrenia,” said Rene Kahn, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and chair of the department of psychiatry at the Mount Sinai Health System. “What is unique about ALKS 3831 is that it combines the efficacy of olanzapine, which is one of the most effective antipsychotics, with a much safer drug profile in that it does not induce the weight gain associated with olanzapine.” He concluded, “These findings show that we now have the potential to reintroduce olanzapine without the long-term weight gain and the negative health effects associated with its use.”
— Rene Kahn, MD, PhD, Professor, Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Chair, Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai Health System