Efficacy and tolerability of a new antipsychotic compound (savoxepine): results of a pilot-study

Savoxepine is a new tetracyclic compound displaying potent neurolepticlike effects in pharmacological studies. Of particular interest is its preferential binding to dopamine-2 receptors in the hippocampus, which leads to the hypothesis that savoxepine may exert antipsychotic effects at doses not inducing extrapyramidal side-effects. In an open pilot-study 18 patients suffering from acute schizophrenic psychoses or paranoid syndromes were treated with savoxepine in an individually adapted dose range from 0.50 to 10 mg per day. A good antipsychotic efficacy could be demonstrated in 10 of 16 patients. Savoxepine was found to be generally well tolerated. Contrary to expectations, mild or moderate extrapyramidal side-effects, especially of the parkinsonian type, were registered. Future research has to test the suggested advantage of savoxepine in comparison with other neuroleptic drugs.