Is a new schizophrenia drug really a game changer?

A new drug is being hailed as a breakthrough for the 2.8 million American adults (among 24 million people worldwide) who battle schizophrenia.

The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has greenlit Bristol Myers Squibb’s Cobenfy, reportedly making it the first major new treatment for the disorder in 70 years.

Unlike other antipsychotic drugs, Cobenfy appears to alleviate schizophrenic delusions without the side effects—drowsiness, weight gain, muscle jerking—that drive some patients to discontinue them.

Although Cobenfy does have its own adverse effects, including nausea, vomiting, and constipation, Bristol Myers Squibb doesn’t seem worried that those will discourage use: the company not only paid $14 billion earlier this year to buy the firm that invented the drug, it’s also testing its efficacy against psychosis from Alzheimer’s, for which there is no FDA-approved treatment.

Effectiveness against just schizophrenia would be a milestone. The disorder’s precise causes are a mystery, seemingly striking those predisposed by a mix of factors—physical, genetic, psychological, environmental—and triggered by things like stress and drug use.

Experts divide schizophrenia’s symptoms into “positive” ones, such as hallucinations and delusions, and “negative” ones that include withdrawal from, and lack of interest in, social interactions and their surroundings.

Researchers say the condition can take a physical and social toll: the disorder has been tied to early death and still carries a stigma that can lead to discrimination and homelessness.

Two Boston University Sargent College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences psychologists who study schizophrenia are excited about Cobenfy’s potential—with a few caveats.

Here, Kim Mueser, a professor of occupational therapy and coauthor of Coping With Schizophrenia: A Guide for Families (New Harbinger Publications, 1994), and Daniel Fulford, an associate professor of occupational therapy who codeveloped an app to collect real-time social data on patients with the disorder, explain what the drug’s approval might mean for patients and whether the hype is overblown: