An atypical rescue

In 2002, Novartis AG dropped development of schizophrenia compound iloperidone after completing six Phase III trials. The company had been hoping that its good side effect profile compared with marketed atypical antipsychotics would be a selling point, but was worried about cardiac signals in a safety study.

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc., which now has rights to the compound, thinks subsequent experience with the marketed drugs means those signals won't translate into real problems. The company intends to file on recently reported data from a Phase III trial in which iloperidone met the primary endpoint of improvement in PANSS (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) score...