PET Clinical Trial Shows Promise for Schizophrenia Treatment

A headshot portrait of Dr. Dean Wong in the East Imaging Building atrium.

Dean F. Wong, MD, PhD, professor of radiology for Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology (MIR) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, led a positron emission tomography (PET) clinical study that shows promise for a new treatment option for schizophrenia.  

The collaborative study with LB Pharmaceuticals Inc. was designed to evaluate dopamine receptor occupancy (how effectively a drug occupies its target receptor) of LB-102. LB-102 is a patented variant of amisulpride, a drug used to treat schizophrenia in Europe for decades.

The study indicates that LB-102 demonstrated unexpectedly prolonged dopamine receptor engagement, potentially offering schizophrenia patients the benefits of amisulpride at a lower dose. Wong and representatives from LB Pharmaceuticals shared their findings at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s 60th Annual Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  

The next step is a double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical study expected to begin the first half of 2022. Read more about the study here.