Robert Kerwin prize winner symposium: using what we know works better – getting clozapine into the clinic

Clozapine is repeatedly shown to be the most effective antipsychotic in clinical trials and is the only drug licensed for treatment resistance but is usually prescribed as a last resort to patients with schizophrenia. However, it is under-used and delay of initiation with clozapine can cause poorer outcomes in patients. Here, we discuss evidence that clozapine is superior to other agents in situations other than last resort, and predictors of clozapine response, as well as clinical practice data on a real-world approach to aid the early initiation of clozapine, together with clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness data. It includes a talk by the RCPsych Robert Kerwin Prize Winner for 2022 based on work published in the BJPsych and new data.

Chair: Belinda Lennox, University of Oxford

What works for treatment resistant schizophrenia? - Professor Emilio Fernandez-Egea, University of Cambridge

How to start clozapine in a patient friendly way and is it cost-effective? -Professor Oliver Howes, Imperial College London

Robert Kerwin prize winning talk - Dr Jurjen Luykx, Department of Psychiatry and Department of Translational Neuroscience, UMC Utrecht Brain Center