Zyprexa - History of the Drug

Since the beginning of mankind, mental illness has played a role in our society. Victims of such illnesses have been outcast, stereotyped and often ridiculed. However, over time, medical and psychiatric science advanced and the medical community became more knowledgeable of these conditions.

It wasn't until the 20th century when scientists began to experiment with certain chemicals that would alleviate symptoms caused by neurological disorders such as schizophrenia. These drugs are called antipsychotics and they block certain chemical receptors in the brain. At first these drugs were praised in the medical community, however case studies began to show that long term effects of these drugs caused patients to develop serious coordination problems. Since the benefits often times outweighed the risks, doctors continued to prescribe these drugs to their patients.

A creation of a new drug with reduced side effects was created in 1989. This drug was called Cloarzil a so called 'atypical' antipsychotic. Unlike previous drugs, Cloarzil was designed to block certain chemicals, while leaving others alone. While it was a breakthrough in the medical community, the drug caused an elevated white blood cell count which interferes with proper immunological functions.

It wasn't until the mid 90's that a new drug was introduced. This drug was proven in clinical studies to have the same number of reduced side effects without increasing the patient's white blood cell count. This new atypical antipsychotic drug called Zyprexa® and was approved by the FDA in 1996. Eli Lily (the drug manufacturer) experienced great financial success with Zyprexa® as sales doubled to $8 billion in 2002-2003. Even though the drug limited the number of side effects such as impaired coordination and motor skills it showed an unexpected increase in diabetes mellitus type II. This type of diabetes has proven to be fatal in a number of patients.