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Son of Risperdal Beats Seroquel (Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look)
A study funded by Janssen, manufacturer of Invega, compared Invega, Seroquel and placebo in the treatment of schizophrenia, according to the blog Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look.

After two weeks, the study found that patients on Invega (paliperidone) had a greater reduction in symptoms measured by the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale for Schizophrenia, which tests symptoms such as disorganized thoughts and uncontrolled hostility, the blog says. Invega patients’ scores declined 23.4 points, while Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) declined 17.1 points and placebo fell 15. 

“Note the rather paltry advantage of Seroquel in comparison with placebo,” the blog says. “These results fit nicely into a pattern. A study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 2006 found that clearly the best predictor of which antipsychotic would be shown superior in a head-to-head comparison was who funded the study.”

Although pharma claims to spend a lot of money on research, the studies aren’t research in the classic sense; they are exercises in marketing, according to the blog. Following the studies, companies send out drug reps to show their drugs’ superiority.

“Pharma then counts these ‘studies’ as research expenditures and waxes on about their dedication to developing lifesaving medications,” the blog says, “as if these studies done purely for marketing purposes have anything to do with developing lifesaving medicines.”