New schizophrenia drug may improve patient compliance

A new pipeline drug, RBP-7000, developed by Indivior for the treatment of schizophrenia, has the potential to improve patient compliance, according to research performed by consulting firm GlobalData. RBP-7000 is a novel sustained-release product using the ATRIGEL delivery system for subcutaneous administration of risperidone once a month.

In the company’s most recent research, it was found that although the current antipsychotic products available on the market are effective in managing the positive symptoms of schizophrenia, there are still significantly unmet needs for the effective control of negative symptoms and for drugs with greater compliance.

Earlier this month, Indivior announced that RBP-7000 had positive topline data in a Phase III trial for the treatment of schizophrenia. The data demonstrated that in a test population of 500 patients over a 12-month period, no new safety issues were encountered and patients ‘remained stable or improved’ during the study period.

“On the back of these results, Indivior is aiming to file a New Drug Application with the FDA last quarter of 2017, giving RBP-7000 an anticipated launch date of Q4 2018,” said Rahael Maladwala, associate healthcare analyst for GlobalData. “RBP-7000 looks to improve the compliance rate in schizophrenia sufferers by reducing the dosing to once a month, meeting significant unmet need in the market.”

However, Maladwala noted that there are other formulations in the market looking to address patient compliance issues and so difficulty may be met in the market place regarding commercialisation as a result of market crowding.

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