Second-Generation Antipsychotic Drugs

This table lists the atypical antipsychotics. For a story on the lessons of the CATIE trial, click here. For a table of first-generation drugs, click here. For a table of drugs in the pipeline, click here.

Drug Brand name(Manufacturer) Approval date Indications Mechanism Cost per 30-day supply* Contraindications/Adverse reactions Injection availability Other data
Clozapine Clozaril (Novartis) FazaClo (now available as a generic) (Azur Pharma) September 1989 (Clozaril); February 2004 (FazaClo) Treatment-resistant schizophrenia Interferes with binding of dopamine D1, D2, D3 and D5 receptors; affinity for D4, also has affinity for serotonergic receptors $313.85, (600 mg/day) Agranulocytosis, eosinophilia, seizure, myocarditis, weight gain, diabetes mellitus, NMS, TD, IMDRP "Clozapine is different from every other drug out there," says Joseph Coyle of Harvard Medical School. For example, 90% of schizophrenia patients smoke, says Coyle. On Clozapine, 50% of them stop smoking. Clozapine also has the highest frequency...

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