Seroquel compliance tops competitors

Treating patients with first-episode schizophrenia and other psychoticdisorders with AstraZeneca's atypical antipyschotic Seroquel (quetiapine) leads to significantly better rates of compliance than those achieved with other frequently-prescribed atypical agents, according to new data presented at the 4th International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research annual meeting in Cannes, France.

The study results also confirm that the improved compliance seen in patients treated with quetiapine translates into cost benefits for health care services.

The new study involved matched groups of newly diagnosed patients prescribed quetiapine, Janssen's Risperdal (risperidone), Eli Lilly's Zyprexa (olanzapine) or the older drug haloperidol, all as monotherapy. The results indicated that, after one year's treatment, 35% of patients complied with quetiapine treatment, compared with 31% of the risperidone group, 20% of those on olanzapine and 13% of haloperidol patients. All of these differences reached statistical significance.