Clozapine’s Remarkable Benefit in First-Episode Schizophrenia

Clozapine is an atypical antipsychotic drug with unique antisuicidal properties and well-known efficacy in treatment-resistant schizophrenia. However, because it carries a risk of rare but life-threatening agranulocytosis and therefore requires frequent blood monitoring, it tends to be used only after multiple failed trials and years of clinical deterioration. Now, researchers are evaluating whether clozapine might have a role earlier in the course of the disease.

In this trial from China, 111 patients with first-episode schizophrenia who had not responded to 8 weeks of initial drug treatment were randomized to switch to olanzapine, amisulpride, or clozapine.