Mental illness represents a broad spectrum of health conditions affecting mood, thinking and behavior. Fortunately, hope is on the horizon as biopharmaceutical research companies have made tremendous strides towards understanding mental illnesses and developing innovative medicines. Today, PhRMA released a new report covering 163 medicines in development that are targeting common mental illnesses, all of which are in clinical trials or awaiting review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The promise of the pipeline is represented across a wide range of mental illnesses,

Alkermes plc announced positive topline results from ENLIGHTEN-Early, a phase 3b study that evaluated the effect of LYBALVI® (olanzapine and samidorphan) compared to olanzapine on body weight in young adult patients (ages 16 to 39; mean age: 26 years) with schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder or bipolar I disorder who were early in their illness. The study met its pre-specified primary endpoint, as patients treated with LYBALVI experienced statistically significantly less weight gain than patients treated with olanzapine at Week 12.

DUBLIN, Oct. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Alkermes plc today announced that LYBALVI® (olanzapine and samidorphan) is now available by prescription in the United States for the treatment of adults with schizophrenia, and for the treatment of adults with bipolar I disorder, as a maintenance monotherapy or for the acute treatment of manic or mixed episodes as monotherapy or an adjunct to lithium or valproate. LYBALVI is a once-daily, oral atypical antipsychotic composed of olanzapine, an established antipsychotic agent, and samidorphan, a new chemical entity.