The first patient to receive olanzapine: A recollection

Abstract

The first patient to receive olanzapine: A recollectionOlanzapine was approved for general use in patients with schizophrenia 25 years ago, in September 1996: however, the first patient to receive it did so in December 1988, by participating in a safety and dose-finding study of an experimental compound, then designated LY170053, developed by the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company at its neuroscience research centre in Erl Wood, Surrey.Awareness of the superior efficacy of clozapine when compared to other antipsychotic drugs had encouraged the search for related compounds which might preserve its efficacy and the reduced burden of extrapyramidal adverse effects, whilst avoiding tolerability problems such as weight gain and the risks of neutropenia and agranulocytosis. LY170053 had a marked molecular resemblance to