Singapore – Johnson & Johnson (J&J) announced the launch of its three-monthly long-acting treatment for schizophrenia in Singapore. It is the first and only schizophrenia medication to be administered four times a year, providing the longest dosing interval available to patients.

 Schizophrenia is a complex and chronic brain disorder in which symptoms can be severe and disabling and can affect all aspects of a person’s daily life. Symptoms include delusions, hallucinations and loss of emotional and psychological functions. Schizophrenia is the ninth leading cause of disability in Singapore (2.7% of total disability-adjusted life-years). The condition can shorten patients’ lives by as much as 28.5 years.

 “While the condition is treatable, a major challenge is the high levels of nonadherence in medication taking which affects about one third of patients every year”, said Dr Calvin Fones, Consultant Psychiatrist, Gleneagles Medical Centre.

 “Nonadherence could lead to relapses, which might in turn, result in grey matter density loss across the course of the illness in schizophrenia. This appears to be related to an increased number of psychotic episodes experienced by a patient, which could result in possible loss of brain functioning as more relapses are experienced. This leads to patient and health services costs, as each relapse can result in reduced response to treatment, putting continued symptom control even further out of reach” Dr Fones added.

 Long-acting injectables, such as the new three-month paliperidone palmitate formulation, have been shown to reduce the risk of nonadherence and relapse. The three-month paliperidone palmitate was approved by the Health Sciences Authority of Singapore in March 2017, and is used as a maintenance pharmacotherapy for adult patients with schizophrenia who have been stabilised with the one-month paliperidone palmitate injectable for at least four months. The one-month paliperidone palmitate was approved in Singapore as the first once-monthly atypical long-acting injection to treat schizophrenia.