Atypical Antipsychotics: The Two New Arrivals

Atypical Antipsychotics: The Two New Arrivals

Abstract

Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 32:85–86, 2011 Copyright © Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. ISSN: 0161-2840 print / 1096-4673 online DOI: 10.3109/01612840.2010.527034 PSYCHOTHERAPEUTICS COLUMN Atypical Antipsychotics: The Two New Arrivals Edited by Marian W. Roman, PhD The University of Tennessee, College of Nursing, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA During 2009, The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two new antipsychotic agents to be prescribed and marketed. A brief summary of the research and specific characteristics of the two newly approved atypical antipsychotics is presented. This is not an itemized review of all clinical trial data, but rather a pr´ cis for clinicians, highlighting e what these new products offer, specifically, that other medications do not. Neither medication presents a dramatic breakthrough in the treatment of the major mental illnesses they address, but each offers some amelioration of one or more of the most troublesome side effects associated with the current second generation of antipsychotics. If these improved profiles result in greater adherence to, or diminished long-term sequelae of, treatment, one or both may offer a benefit not previously available in the psychopharmacology armamentarium. SAFETY AND EFFICACY In May 2009, iloperidone (FANAPT R ) was approved. This medication is structurally