A Devastating Disease with Treatment Challenges
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves. This chronic and devastating neuropsychiatric disease is ranked as a leading cause of disability worldwide and may affect educational and occupational performance. Symptoms of schizophrenia usually start between ages 16 and 30. The disease afflicts nearly 20 million people worldwide.
Our Research and Development
Concert is evaluating in clinical trials CTP-692, an investigational adjunctive treatment to be administered in addition to standard antipsychotic medicines.
It has been shown that some individuals with schizophrenia have lower blood levels of D-serine, a molecule that activates NMDA receptors in areas of the brain that are widely believed to play key roles in schizophrenia.
Concert has applied its deuterium chemistry technology to create a form of D-serine that may offer an entirely new mechanism of action to treat schizophrenia. CTP-692 is an investigational product, and its effectiveness and safety in schizophrenia have not been established.
POSITIVE SYMPTOMS
Psychotic behaviors not generally seen in healthy people- Hallucinations
- Delusional behaviors
- Thought disorder
- Movement disorders/agitated body movements
NEGATIVE SYMPTOMS
Disruptions to normal emotions and behaviors- Social withdrawal
- Apathy
- “Flat affect”
(reduced expression of emotions via facial expression or voice tone) - Reduced feelings of pleasure in everyday life
- Difficulty beginning and sustaining activities
- Reduced speaking
COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION
Changes in aspects of thinking- Diminished capacity for:
- Attention
- Memory
- Problem solving
Schizophrenia Symptoms: 3 Categories
Schizophrenia is a psychosis, a type of mental illness characterized by distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, sense of self and behavior. These symptoms are generally categorized into three main areas known as positive symptoms, negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction.
Schizophrenia is treatable. Though existing antipsychotic medicines have made great strides in impacting the most visible psychotic behaviors and positive symptoms that are hallmarks of the disease, other negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia are not adequately treated in many patients. It is the negative and cognitive symptoms that are more likely to be associated with disability in everyday functioning in schizophrenia patients. Based on existing research, it is believed that the negative and cognitive symptoms are generally unresponsive to current antipsychotic drugs.
