Studies on Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) for Schizophrenia 

Keep in mind who sponsors the study, as it will tends to make the results more favorable for the med in question (on average 3.6 times more likely, according to a Yale study).

Efficacy of Seroquel in Three Trials - Three different double-blind, placebo-controlled trials.  426 people with a variety of forms of schizophrenia taking Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate).  The mean dosage was the magic number of 300mg a day and the average age was 37.  How about that.  Actually 400mg a day worked better, so lower dosages aren't always the answer.  Works well for positive and negative symptoms, along with depression, aggression, hostility and agitation.

Seroquel's onset of action - How fast will Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) work for schizophrenia?  One week, sometimes two, but often one week according to this study of 422 people with chronic or subchronic (lasting less than 90 days) symptoms.  Noted improvement on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale after one week.  Mainly negative symptoms, but it also worked well for positive symptoms, depression, excitement and tension.  Given how Seroquel knocks you out, the last two aren't surprising.

Three years on Seroquel - So, how did people do on Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) after one of those crappy six-week trials?  About 250 people with schizophrenia who all knew they were taking and average dosage of about 450mg a day of Seroquel (in a range of 150 to 750mg a day) were followed (and not in the paranoid sense) for three years.  At the end of the initial six-week trial they recorded huge drops in their Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and Clinical Global Impression scores.  By the end of three years the people had further reduced their scores a bit, showing that Seroquel continues to work, and even improve things, over the long haul. 

Seroquel vs. Haldol.  An eight-week study has 600mg a day Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) going up against 20mg a day of the tried and true standard antipsychotic Haldol (haloperidol) for people who didn't respond to Prolixin (fluphenazine).  Seroquel tested as twice as effective on the Clinical Global Impression test  while sucking less (more weight gain vs. less EPS).

Seroquel vs. Haldol.  An eight-week study has 600mg a day Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) going up against 20mg a day of the tried and true standard antipsychotic Haldol (haloperidol) for 269 people who didn't respond to Prolixin (fluphenazine).  Whoa, that looks familiar.  However, this study was looking specifically at the depressive symptoms of schizophrenia.  Seroquel tested as three times as effective on The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale.

Seroquel vs. Haldol vs Placebo.  This appears to be the data from the clinical trial where Haldol (haloperidol) wasn't up to snuff.  The point of this study was to see how well Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) does in controlling hostility and agitation.  175 people took Seroquel in dosages that varied (150, 300, 600, and 750 mg a day, three times a day), 42 took 12mg a day of Haldol and 40 got the wonder drug Placebo.  While the Seroquel "significantly" reduced their agitation scores on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Placebo did as well as Haldol.  I guess that's why it wasn't reported on the PI sheet.  

Seroquel vs. Haldol.  Yet another comparison of Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) and Haldol (haloperidol).  But this time it was to see if people could think straight once they weren't thinking crazy.  You know, useful skills like memory, attention and knowing things about stuff.  So after 58 people stabilized on 12mg a day on Haldol or either 300mg or 600mg a day of Seroquel they were given a variety of intelligence tests.  The winners were the people taking 600mg a day of Seroquel.  This was an AstraZeneca sponsored test, so that may or may not have had something to do with the results.

Seroquel vs. Thorazine  101 people averaging 400mg a day of Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) vs. 100 people averaging 380mg a day of Thorazine (chlorpromazine).  Everyone had subchronic or chronic schizophrenia, or schizophreniform disorder.  After six weeks the Seroquel was determine to work better and suck less.

Seroquel vs. Zyprexa vs. Risperdal vs. Serdolect vs. Haldol vs. Placebo.  Antipsychotic cage match!  Five drugs enter, ...and five drugs leave.   Unfamiliar to US readers would be Serdolect (sertindole), a European atypical antipsychotic that is unlikely to be introduced to the US market.  It's been withdrawn from the UK market and is admitted by Lundbeck to be a med of last resort.   Anyway, the results of this analysis of multiple studies involving over 2,400 people with schizophrenia show Risperdal (risperidone) and Zyprexa (olanzapine) to be more effective than Haldol (haloperidol) when it comes to all of schizophrenia's symptoms, while Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) and Serdolect (sertindole) are just as effective.  When it comes to the negative symptoms, though, Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) tested as less effective Haldol while Risperdal and Zyprexa continue to be more effective.  As usual Risperdal had the greatest risk of EPS.  Surprisingly the wonder drug Placebo didn't do too badly in some of the studies.

Zyprexa vs. Risperdal vs. Seroquel vs. Clozaril - Straight from the trenches of a state psychiatric hospital in Louisiana, where people get anticonvulsants, antidepressants, benzodiazepines and anything else that makes the real world a messy place to treat the mentally interesting.  100 people staying on average a year in the hospital.  The results - Zyprexa (olanzapine) had a slight edge over Risperdal (risperidone).  Yet when you came down to the people with hard-core refractory disorders, nothing beat Clozaril (clozapine).  Zyprexa was still the better drug to try first, but sometimes you have to just give in to conventional reality and go with the Clozaril.

Risperdal vs. Seroquel.  This AstraZeneca study of 728 three people with schizophrenia and "other psychotic disorders" had 553 take Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) and 175 take Risperdal  (risperidone) in a multicenter, 4-month, open-label.  Talk about stacking the deck!  An average of 250mg of Seroquel was as effective as 4.5mg of Risperdal.  Hey, those are pretty low dosages for efficacy, but what the hell, low dosage efficacy is what this site is all about!  Not surprisingly, about a third of the people taking Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) were too tired to get out of bed, and the rates of EPS were much lower with Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) than with Risperdal.  What was surprising at first read, but what is being backed up with further studies, is that the people taking Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) were less likely to get depressed.  Maybe it's all that quality sleep you get.

See the page on a drugs' efficacy for an explanation of the tests used to evaluate if a medication is any good or not.