Schizophrenia – Unmet Need – Unmet Need – Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia (US/EU)

Negative symptoms of schizophrenia—often occurring along with positive symptoms—include diminished emotional expression (affective flattening), reduced goal-directed behavior (avolition), limited speech output (alogia), and impaired social functioning. While currently available antipsychotics are generally effective in managing positive symptoms, their impact on negative symptoms remains limited. Although the schizophrenia drug market is crowded with multiple antipsychotics, only a few therapies meaningfully address negative symptoms. Among existing agents, cariprazine, aripiprazole, and amisulpride (the only therapy approved specifically for negative symptoms in certain European markets) have shown some benefit. The recently launched Cobenfy (2024) demonstrates promising effects on negative symptoms in clinical trials; however, real-world evidence is still needed to validate its long-term effectiveness. Given the scarcity of therapeutic options and the setbacks seen with late-stage candidates such as pimavanserin and roluperidone, the negative symptom patient population represents a substantial unmet need for safe and effective treatments.

Questions answered

• Which clinical and nonclinical attributes most strongly shape psychiatrists’ treatment decisions for managing negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
• How do psychiatrists rate the performance of key current therapies in the treatment of the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
• What persistent unmet needs continue to limit optimal management of negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
• Based on a conjoint analysis and TPP simulation, what trade-offs between clinical attributes and price are psychiatrists willing to make for a hypothetical new emerging therapy?

Geography: United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany

Primary research: Survey of 60 U.S. and 31 European psychiatrists fielded in December 2025

Key drugs: Vraylar / Reagila, Cobenfy, aripiprazole

Key analyses

• Importance of clinical and nonclinical product attributes to physicians
• Assessment of current drug performance against treatment drivers and goals
• Physician perceptions of unmet needs in the indication and related indications
• Remaining drug development opportunities

Key feature

Target Product Profile (TPP) simulator tool allows for customizable market simulations based on conjoint analysis. Compare up to seven TPPs across multiple disease-specific attributes and price points to gauge which variables influence prescribing behavior.

Product description

Unmet Need offers insight into key treatment drivers and goals, the performance of current therapies, and the remaining commercial opportunities, enabling you to:

• Evaluate clinical and nonclinical product attributes that influence treatment decisions through physicians’ weightings and analysis of stated vs. derived importance.
• Pinpoint areas of high unmet need by assessing current drug performance against key attributes and treatment drivers.
• Analyze market scenarios for different target product profiles using the TPP Simulator.