For the first time in decades, we have a new kind of schizophrenia drug

Published October 23, 2024 at 10:07 AM EDT

Cobenfy, a new drug made by Bristol Myers Squibb and approved by the FDA last week, triggers muscarinic receptors instead of dopamine receptors. It's the first schizophrenia treatment to do so.

For the past 70 years, schizophrenia treatments all targeted the same chemical: dopamine. While that works for some, it causes brutal side effects for others.

An antipsychotic drug approved last month by the FDA changes that. It triggers muscarinic receptors instead of dopamine receptors. The drug is the result of a chance scientific finding ... from a study that wasn't even focused on schizophrenia.

This episode, host Emily Kwong and NPR pharmaceutical correspondent Sydney Lupkin dive into where the drug originated, how it works and what it might shift for people with schizophrenia.

Read more of Sydney's reporting on this new treatment.

This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn and edited by our showrunner, Rebecca Ramirez. The facts were checked by Tyler Jones. The audio engineer was Maggie Luthar.

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This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn and edited by Rebecca Ramirez. It was fact-checked by Tyler Jones. Maggie Luthar was the audio engineer.