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Disease

Schizophrenia

Late-stage therapeutic developmentActively researchedCooling momentum
72
Publications
24
Clinical trials
12
Related conditions
6
Related proteins
2026
Latest publication
Current focus
Carrier biologyNerve tissue biologyTherapeutic developmentGenetics & risk factorsDisease mechanisms & pathology
Latest activity
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Recent clinical, regulatory, research and industry developments relating to this disease.

IUPHAR themed review: The gut microbiome in schizophrenia.

Research2024-12-26Pharmacological research

Approval: Niapelf (EMA)

Regulatory2024-03-31EMA

Approval: Okedi (EMA)

Regulatory2022-02-14EMA

What's happening now

An analyst briefing on current research, clinical, regulatory and industry activity surrounding this disease.

Major developments
Major safety communicationImportant
Olanzapine is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia. Olanzapine is effective in maintaining the clinical improvement during continuation therapy in patients who have shown an initial treatment response. Olanzapine is indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe manic episode. In patients whose manic episode has responded to olanzapine treatment, olanzapine is indicated for the prevention of recurrence in patients with bipolar disorder.2025-08-12
Research Highlights3View
Clinical Milestones12View all 12
+4 more in the activity timeline below
Industry & Market4View
Regulatory Updates1View
  • 2025-08-12Market withdrawal — OlanzapineOlanzapine is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia. Olanzapine is effective in maintaining the clinical improvement during continuation therapy in patients who have shown an initial treatment response. Olanzapine is indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe manic episode. In patients whose manic episode has responded to olanzapine treatment, olanzapine is indicated for the prevention of recurrence in patients with bipolar disorder.
Activity timeline20

Therapeutic landscape

Therapies with a regulatory footing for this condition, alongside the wider set of agents co-studied with it in the literature.

Approved & established therapies

Approval — indicated for maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in adult patients stabilised withpal… (2024)

Risperidoneapproved

Approval — Treatment of schizophrenia in adults for whom tolerability and effectiveness has been est… (2022)

Approval — Rxulti is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia in adult and adolescents aged 13 y… (2018)

Approval — Reagila is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia in adult patients. (2017)

Aripiprazoleapproved

Approval — Aripiprazole Accord is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults and in adol… (2015)

Clinical trials

17 sponsors · 3 new · 4 completed in the last 12 months (net +2)

The current development programme across all trial phases.

Clinical programme
24
All trials
6
Active
18
Late-stage
6
Completed
Late-stage studies
Recruiting
Recently completed

Evidence coverage

8 treatments

How much of this condition's readable clinical evidence the confidence engine has incorporated, across its most-studied treatments. This measures coverage of the evidence base — not whether any treatment works.

Partial evidence coverage
48% · 26/54 eligible items incorporated

Largest gap: no meaningful change (6, trial-readability).

Regulatory timeline

Drug regulatory events matched to this condition by indication — EMA.

First approvals
2024emaApprovalPaliperidone palmitate· indicated for maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in adult patients stabilised withpaliperidone or risperidone. In selected adult patients with schizophrenia and previous responsiveness to oral paliperidone or risperidone, Niapelf may be used without prior stabilisation with oral treatment if psychotic symptoms are mild to moderate and a long-acting injectable treatment is needed.  source ↗
2022emaApprovalRisperidone· Treatment of schizophrenia in adults for whom tolerability and effectiveness has been established with oral risperidone. source ↗
2020emaApprovalPaliperidone palmitate· Byannli (previously Paliperidone Janssen-Cilag International) a 6 monthly injection, is indicated for the maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in adult patients who are clinically stable on 1 monthly or 3 monthly paliperidone palmitate injectable products (see section 5.1). source ↗
2018emaApprovalBrexpiprazole· Rxulti is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia in adult and adolescents aged 13 years and older. source ↗
2017emaApprovalCariprazine hydrochloride· Reagila is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia in adult patients. source ↗
2015emaApprovalAripiprazole· Aripiprazole Accord is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults and in adolescents aged 15 years and older. Aripiprazole Accord is indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe manic episodes in Bipolar I Disorder and for the prevention of a new manic episode in adults who experienced predominantly manic episodes and whose manic episodes responded to aripiprazole treatment. Aripiprazole Accord is indicated for the treatment up to 12 weeks of moderate to severe manic episodes in Bipolar I Disorder in adolescents aged 13 years and older. source ↗
2015emaApprovalAripiprazole· Aripiprazole Sandoz is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults and in adolescents aged 15 years and older. Aripiprazole Sandoz is indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe manic episodes in Bipolar I Disorder and for the prevention of a new manic episode in adults who experienced predominantly manic episodes and whose manic episodes responded to aripiprazole treatment. Aripiprazole Sandoz is indicated for the treatment up to 12 weeks of moderate to severe manic episodes in Bipolar I Disorder in adolescents aged 13 years and older. source ↗
2015emaApprovalAripiprazole· Aripiprazole Mylan Pharma is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults and in adolescents aged 15 years and older. Aripiprazole Mylan Pharma is indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe manic episodes in Bipolar I Disorder and for the prevention of a new manic episode in adults who experienced predominantly manic episodes and whose manic episodes responded to aripiprazole treatment. Aripiprazole Mylan Pharma is indicated for the treatment up to 12 weeks of moderate to severe manic episodes in Bipolar I Disorder in adolescents aged 13 years and older. source ↗
Safety updates
2025emaMarket withdrawalOlanzapine· Olanzapine is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia. Olanzapine is effective in maintaining the clinical improvement during continuation therapy in patients who have shown an initial treatment response. Olanzapine is indicated for the treatment of moderate to severe manic episode. In patients whose manic episode has responded to olanzapine treatment, olanzapine is indicated for the prevention of recurrence in patients with bipolar disorder. source ↗

European Medicines Agency (CC BY 4.0). Events are matched to this condition by drug indication text — approvals/updates for drugs indicated for it, not disease-specific acts.

Research activity

72 papers

Key research shaping understanding of this disease, combining the latest publications with the most influential evidence.

Publications over time
20102026
Most influential
Recent publications
Major themes8
  • Schizophrenia37
  • Mental Disorders14
  • Bipolar Disorder12
  • Major Depressive Disorder8
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity5
  • Brain5
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder4
  • Psychiatry4
Leading journals6
  • Molecular psychiatry12
  • Schizophrenia bulletin4
  • Translational psychiatry4
  • Nature3
  • Psychological medicine3
  • Biomolecules2
Leading researchers8
  • Børglum AD4
  • Andreassen OA3
  • Bybjerg-Grauholm J3
  • Faraone SV3
  • Genovese G3
  • Hirano Y3
  • Hougaard DM3
  • Liu C3
Affiliations (unnormalised)6
  • Harvard Medical School7
  • School of Medicine7
  • Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research7
  • University of Oxford7
  • Institute of Psychiatry6
  • McLean Hospital5

Disease biology

6 matches

Key proteins & gene products studied in this disease. Number shows shared papers.

Related conditions

12 matches

Diseases frequently studied alongside this one. Number shows shared papers.

Disease profile

A grounded synthesis of the condition — overview, causes, mechanism, risk factors and current standard of care.

Overview

Schizophrenia is a severe psychotic disorder marked by withdrawal from reality, delusions, hallucinations, emotional disharmony, and regressive behavior. The supplied literature also frames it as a common, burdensome, and costly psychiatric disorder in adults worldwide.

Pathophysiology

The grounding supports a neurobiological disorder with structural and circuit-level abnormalities rather than a purely functional psychosis. Reported findings include ventricular enlargement, reduced cortical and hippocampal volume, preferential temporal lobe involvement, altered cerebral asymmetry, and reduced neuropil and neuronal size. The literature also emphasizes disrupted cortical-subcortical-cerebellar connectivity and cognitive dysmetria, along with genetic and molecular investigation involving transcriptome changes, single-nucleotide polymorphisms, neuronal plasticity, and NMDA/AMPA-related glutamatergic mechanisms.

Risk factors

The supplied material supports epidemiologic variation in prevalence and the use of migrant and special-group studies, but it does not identify specific risk factors. It also notes genetic association work and heritability-oriented endophenotype research, but not concrete individual risk factors.

Current standard of care

Antipsychotic drugs are described as the treatment of choice for acute schizophrenia. The evidence base in the grounding focuses on oral antipsychotics and their comparative efficacy, tolerability, and metabolic effects, indicating pharmacologic treatment with antipsychotic medication as the standard modality. The material does not support more specific treatment recommendations beyond the antipsychotic drug class.

AI-generated summary grounded in MeSH and 6 peer-reviewed sources. Informational only — not medical advice. Generated 2026-07-07.

Reference

Authoritative identity, definition & identifiers.

Defined in MeSH

A severe emotional disorder of psychotic depth characteristically marked by a retreat from reality with delusion formation, HALLUCINATIONS, emotional disharmony, and regressive behavior.

References & data sources
  • Disease identity & definition — NLM Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), public domain
  • Clinical trials — ClinicalTrials.gov (U.S. National Library of Medicine)
  • Research activity — Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI) + OpenAlex-derived paper links
  • Related entities are derived from literature co-mention (studied together) — associative, not causal.