FDA approves Johnson & Johnson autism drug

10/09/06 - newratings.com

NEW YORK, October 9 (newratings.com) – Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Friday announced that its schizophrenia drug had won the FDA approval as the first medicine to treat symptoms of autism in children and adolescents.

The New Brunswick, New Jersey-based company’s drug, Risperdal, which witnessed worldwide sales of $3.5 billion in 2005, is the first medication to be approved in the US for treating autism symptoms in children and adolescents. The FDA said that the approval was based on the two eight-week studies in 156 autistic patients aged between five and sixteen years who took Risperdal. Ninety percent of the patients were aged between five to twelve years.