Joint research of Takeda pharmaceutical and Sumitomo pharmaceutical: lurasidone approved by EU

Recently, lurasidone, jointly developed by Takeda pharmaceutical and Sumitomo pharmaceutical, has been approved by the European Union for the treatment of adult patients with schizophrenia The drug will be sold in the UK by sunovicon pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Sumitomo pharmaceutical, while Takeda pharmaceutical will be sold in the rest of the EU market In clinical trials, lulasidone (trade name latuda) has demonstrated its ability to reduce the psychological symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations and distorted reality However, for Takeda and Sumitomo, the biggest selling point lies in the lower side effects of lulasidone Studies have confirmed that the incidence of weight gain and metabolic changes in users is low These two side effects are usually related to psychiatric drugs, which can lead to poor physical condition and lack of compliance This advantage may allow lulasidone to occupy a place in the highly competitive market of schizophrenic drugs, where it is common to change drugs due to adverse events, tolerance or effectiveness problems Prof Tony hale, medical director of sunovion, said: "it's very important to balance effectiveness and tolerance in the treatment of schizophrenia, especially because weight gain will have side effects on physical health, which is also a common reason why people can't insist on treatment It is valuable for patients and their physicians to have treatment options that provide symptom control with minimal metabolic impact " Lulasidone has been listed in the United States and Canada in 2011 and 2012, respectively, where the drug is marketed by sunovicon pharmaceutical, a subsidiary of Sumitomo pharmaceutical In the past few years, the launch of the drug has boosted Sumitomo's net sales, while Trevor Smith, marketing director of Takeda pharmaceutical in Europe and Canada, previously said in an interview that lulasidone is a potential blockbuster EU approval for Takeda’s schizophrenia drug Takeda and development partner Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma have won European approval for their schizophrenia treatment Latuda (lurasidone) The European Commission (EC) granted marketing authorisation to the drug as a once-daily treatment for adults with schizophrenia and it will be marketed byDainippon
subsidiary Sunovion Pharmaceuticals in the UK and by
Takedasubsidiaries across the rest of the EU Latuda has demonstrated in trials its ability to reduce the psychological symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations and distorted reality However, the big selling point for Takeda and Dainippon is the positive side effect profile of Latuda, with the drug demonstrating low rates of both weight increase and me-tabolic change – two effects commonly associated with antipsychotic treatments that can lead to poor physical health and non-adherence This profile should allow Latuda to carve out a place in the competitive schizophrenia market, where switching medication is common due to adverse event, tolerability or effectiveness issues Prof Tony Hale, medical director, CNS, at Sunovion, said: “When treating schizophrenia, it's imp0rtant to balance efficacy with tolerability, especially as weight gain can have such a negative impact on physical health and is a common reason why people fail to adhere to treatment “Additional treatment options that can provide symptom control with minimal me-tabolic effects would be of value to both patients and their physicians.” Latuda has been available in the US since 2011 and Canada since 2012, where it is marketed in both regions by Dainippon through its subsidiary Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc
The launch of the drug has contributed to a boost in net sales for Dainippon over the past year, while Takeda's head of commercial operations for Europe and Canada Trevor Smith previously described Latuda as a
potential blockbuster
in an interview with PMLiVE.