13 January 2010 - Swiss Novartis (VTX: NOVN) said on Monday it has launched in the US Fanapt (iloperidone (product,search)) tablets for the acute treatment of schizophrenia in adults.

Fanapt, a twice-daily, oral antipsychotic, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in May 2009.

In clinical trials, treatment with Fanapt resulted in significant improvement in symptoms of schizophrenia compared to patients on placebo as demonstrated on two major scales for measuring the positive and negative symptoms of the disorder, the company said.

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