A promising schizophrenia drug showed mixed results. What does that mean for patients?

AP Medical Writer

Some people who took a new schizophrenia drug for one year improved with only a few side effects, but many dropped out of the research. That’s according to company-sponsored studies reported Thursday. Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that can cause people to hear voices, feel paranoid and withdraw from others. Bristol Myers Squibb’s Cobenfy was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September. There’s been great hope among doctors because the drug acts in the brain differently than other schizophrenia medicines. The latest results presented at a medical meeting in Boston come from two yearlong studies.