A new therapy drug for schizophrenia has been approved, and the U.S. pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb rose by 1.6%!

The world's first new drug for schizophrenia approved in the United States, with sales expected to reach $2.8 billion by 2028.

On Friday, September 27th, Bristol Myers Squibb's schizophrenia drug Cobenfy was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for listing. Cobenfy is a new mechanism for treating schizophrenia without the common side effects of other antipsychotic drugs. The market expects Cobenfy's sales to reach $2.8 billion in 2028, with peak sales reaching around $6 billion.

According to a survey by the World Health Organization, there were approximately 24 million schizophrenia patients worldwide in 2022. Expert market research estimates that the global market for schizophrenia treatment drugs will increase from $8.18 billion in 2023 to $12.97 billion in 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 5.26%.

As of now, Bristol Myers Squibb has risen by 1.6%.

Since the beginning of January 2023, Bristol Myers Squibb's sales have only increased by 1%, and the stock price has fallen by about 25% from $67 to $50. In comparison, the S&P 500 index has risen by about 50% during the same period.

The approval of Cobenfy this time should bring some relief to stocks that have performed poorly recently.

So far this year, Bristol Myers Squibb has acquired Mirati Therapeutics, RayzeBio, and Karuna Therapeutics, spending approximately $24 billion. Through these acquisitions, Bristol Myers Squibb has strengthened its research pipeline and now has over 50 drugs in development.

Forbes magazine believes that considering the $6 billion in annual sales of Cobenfy, the $24 billion acquisition fee was well spent. They expect Bristol Myers Squibb's earnings growth to rebound starting in 2025:

We expect Bristol Myers Squibb's earnings per share to drop to $0.76 in 2024, down from $7.51 last year. However, this figure is expected to rebound to $7.30 in 2025