excuse the rant:
"Since Zyprexa was introduced in 1996, it has been prescribed to approximately 20 million people worldwide."
--I wonder how many people honestly received benefit from those prescriptions.
--I wonder how many are in lawsuits, dead, or injured, or diabetic now.

This just makes me sick to read anything abouy Lilly pimping out a new wonder drug, testing it on 200 or so people against a sugar pill or Zyprexa, and saying after 28 days the side effects were nothing to worry about. Oh PA-LEEZE.

People didn't become diabetic or gain 50 pounds on Zyprexa after 28 days either. Try doing a trial for 6 -12 months and have a fucking conscious Lilly.

Hey Dawdy, speaking of non-dopamine-related treatment for schizophrenia:
Have you ever heard of a book called Healing Schizophrenia by Dr. Abram Hoffer? It was published in 2004 and the ISBN is 1-897-205-08-4 and the publisher is CCNM Press Inc. in Toronto.

The most useful thing from this book that we've come across is B3/Niacin supplementation. This, in addition to a low dose of Risperdal, does a fairly incredible job of practically eliminating my fiancé's psychotic symptoms, as long as he's remembering to take them every day. Have you heard anything about this? (The book ultimately suggests that B3 become your primary medication, but we'll approach that one slowly).

Since vitamins can't be patented, you can imagine no one actually prescribes this. We found it on our own. I'd love to know your thoughts or the thoughts of other readers.

The B3 thing works, if you stick with it. Mega dosing it though. Most docs won't hear it. My daughter [age 19]researched it and started this at age 17, but while coming off of Zyprexa, so once in the hospital they tossed the vitamins out. I've read quite a lot about B3 working miracles with people who have had no luck with antipsychotics.

I have several psych diagnosis including schizo, do I have the disorders? Who knows? I cook with sea salt , take a multivitamin for men and try to avoid wheat/gluten products. Schizophrenic symptoms/gluten-free dietI believe in personal responsibility(Szasz writing) and if "mental illness" is detectable with lab tests, it is no longer "mental illness" but a neurological condition.

I think you've missed the point of this latest paper. First, it was a Phase 2 study, not a Phase 1 as you say. Second, LY404039 efficacy was quite good as compared to both a placebo and a drug that is known to work (olanzapine). That it worked is remarkable. But equally exciting was the fact that it didn't reveal the side effects associated with olanzapine when studied over the same period. In other words, the older medication led to weight gain over the 28 day study, while the newer drug did not (see Figure 2).
I guess I can understand the caution and pessimism of your post, but I think the news is actually quite positive. Hopefully the Phase 3 studies won't reveal other problems.
Also I should mention that I own 40 shares of Eli Lily. I bought them yesterday after reading this new paper. I'm not connected in any other way to Lily or this research.

Mike, time will tell with that new "wonder drug" because as we all know, it is quite often YEARS after a medication is released and used by people that the horror stories/lack of efficacy stories come out[or lawsuits].Good luck with the 40 shares of Lilly, they have a lot to offer in that regard, Stattera, Cymbalta, not to mention the lawsuits re: Zyprexa. Wyeth might be a better choice for planning ahead for a block buster medication money maker.[just my opinion]

As Lilly is still in class-action lawsuits over misrepresenting Zyprexa to psychiatrists, general practitioners, and patients, I will take anything they say with HUGE grains of salt. Having watched two close friends be misdiagnosed with bipolar and be given Zyprexa by family practice docs, I've seen just how destructive it could be.

Certainly, we need new antipsychotics with novel mechanisms of action. As long as that market is so lucrative, companies will keep cranking out the Abiliquelodonarilazinols. I just wonder how many more drugs with harmful side effects will be pumped into patients based on a 28-day study in Russia that showed 80% efficacy.

tiny shrink- yeah the Lilly Zyprexa replacement $$ maker is a pile of bullshit.

Update on: "LILLY continues to develop LY2140023 and has begun a trial of 870 patients that is scheduled to be completed in January 2009."

Daring to think differently about SZ- NY Times-Lilly article.

"Driving the industry’s interest is the huge market for drugs for brain and psychiatric diseases. Worldwide sales total almost $50 billion annually, even though existing medicines have moderate efficacy and have side effects that range from reduced libido to diabetes.

The glutamate researchers warn that their quest for new treatments for schizophrenia is far from complete." [Wyeth is working on this also.]

Also.Maybe Dr.Schoepp was offered more money to work to develop glutamate drugs at Merck, or because he didn't want a drug that was showing less efficacy than Zyprexa, since Zyprexa is clearly not as efficacious as Lilly promotes, let alone the lawsuits.

"Since it hired Dr. Schoepp, Merck has also been moving aggressively. It has struck two deals since December to work with Addex Pharmaceuticals, a Swiss company, to develop glutamate drugs for schizophrenia, Parkinson’s and other diseases. Merck has paid Addex $25 million so far, with more payments to come if the drugs move forward."

NY Times article.

In my personal research I've started to read more and more about the glutamate factor with regard to SZ and Alzheimers, and feel one of these drugs that can address that might show some possible hope. The brain, in my opinion with regard to SZ is quite similar to Alzheimer's, this being based on personal experience. It's something to think about beyond the Pharma billion dollar hope for a block buster med, is that there could be something that takes on SZ and Alzheimers, both horrific attacks of the brain in my opinion.

Iam so so so sick of these evil and twisted bastards ruining peoples live's for their own gratifiction. my brother has been mistreated for 15 years from these fuckers and he now has autism spectrum disorder that they want to treat with a nice safe dose of anti psychotic medication clozapine.. if you can relate tothis i suggest you do your own reseach into ASD asyou may find that you have been misdiagnosed or that you to have had ASD brought on through the "anti" psychotic meds. I HATE THE SYSTEM THEY ARE PURE EVIL. My brother is so dear to me and he deserves better than this. JUSTICE MUST BE MET SO COME ON PEOPLE IF YOU HAVE ANY EVIDENCE OF MISDIAGONOSIS OR OF MISCONDUCT DO SOMETHING MAKE A DIFFERENCE PLEASE DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS ANYMORE I WANNA TAKE THEM DOWN AND PUT IN PLACE BETTER DIOGNOSIS AND MORE THEARAPUTIC TREATMENTS TO BE INITALISED FROM THE START NOT MIND BLWIND DAGNOSIS CANGE BULSHIT FUCKD U MRDERING DRUGS

AND YOU WHO INVEST AND BUY SHARES OF ANY INSTITUTE SUCH AS LILLY YOU ARE AS GUILTY AS THEY ARE AND IF THERE IS A GOD THEN YOU WILL BE CAST OUT OF HEAVEN FOR YOU PERVRSE GREED OF MONEY.

YOU CAN MAKE MONEY MANY WAYS

AND I WOULD RATHER BE POOR FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE THAN TO ASSOSIATE AND CONDONE WAHT THESE PEOPLE ARE DOING

SCUM

Well, Davina, you really need to get on your meds. What do any of you self righteous self appointed saints know about the horrible suffering of schizophrenics? Big Pharma makes meds that are imperfect and some that dont work at all- but they keep at it in the hope of discovering the med that will enable the mentally ill to some day live normal lives like the saints on this site. Oh, of course, money and fame are involved; why not? Its hard to create meds that help sick people. Its alot easier to criticize, rant and rave at the " evil ones". My son is schizo and at 29yrs is missing out on life. He did great on Zyprexa for years until the metabolic syndrome began to manifest. We took him off and wonder why other families/ friends dont look out for side effects their loved ones show? As for as meditation and vitamins are concerned- if they cure your bi-polar or sz then believe me you didnt have anything to worry about to begin with. Does it not occur to you that if this worked the mentally ill would have had a huge shout out a long time ago! Do you think they are stupid ? I am so looking forward to Jan. 2009 when lilly will release results of the trial that involved 895 people on ly2140023. Also other drug companies are working on the glutamate meds. We who really care about our sz relatives/friends would rather HOPE then rant.

Well yes 2009 is another false hope entering the market for schizophrenic treatment, that will in fact fail as all the other antipsychotics! Antipsychotics shrink the brain, increase cancer risk,reduce life span, and have fried my 20 year old's brain. Brain's become addicted to the drugs, the brain cannot function off of them, and no doctor believes in "withdrawal psychosis" which happened to my daughter when attempting to remove ZYPREXA.

Search for MK-0007 next, it's the newest wonder drug coming down the pipeline. Maybe you'll find the information on my blog.

Make that google search 'mk-0777 merck'

My 21 year old daughter has schizophrenia. She did not respond well to medication and tried to kill herself. We thought we had lost her to this terrible illness. However, I never thought they got the medication right. I started reading about b3. I found a doctor who put on 2mg of Risperdal a day while I started her on b3. She started getting better immediately. She is down to 1mg a day and doing great. She was still having problems falling asleep and I purchase a sleep/relaxing machine from Brookstone developed by a neuoscientist to maximax brain waves allowing you to fall asleep. She falls right asleep and says she could not live without the machine. Her MD is going to continue lowering her medication very slowly to see at what level she will require.