In the carefully monitored confines of a clinical facility, patients with schizophrenia took what looked like an ordinary multivitamin. But inside each capsule was something that might soon change how we treat serious mental illness.
The capsule unfurls like a sea star in the stomach, anchoring itself just long enough to release a week’s worth of medication. Then, it gently comes apart, exiting the body naturally. It’s a weekly pill. And for many in the trial, it worked just as well as daily risperidone, one of the most commonly prescribed antipsychotics for schizophrenia.
This innovation, recently detailed in The Lancet Psychiatry, comes from a decade-long collaboration between researchers at MIT and the biotech firm Lyndra Therapeutics. The clinical trial, funded by Lyndra, involved 83 patients at five sites across the United States. It tested a once-weekly formulation called LYN-005 against daily risperidone. The goal was simple: deliver the same drug, more conveniently—and reliably.
“We’ve converted something that has to be taken once a day to once a week, orally,” said Giovanni Traverso, an MIT associate professor and gastroenterologist who co-developed the capsule. “The ability to provide a sustained level of drug for a prolonged period, in an easy-to-administer system, makes it easier to ensure patients are receiving their medication.”
A Star in the Stomach
The technology behind the weekly pill is as much mechanical as it is pharmaceutical. Encased in a standard-size capsule is a star-shaped device with six flexible arms. Once the outer shell dissolves in the stomach, the arms extend outward, preventing the device from exiting the stomach too soon.
The arms are embedded with risperidone and coated to release the drug gradually over the course of a week. After the medication is fully dispensed, the arms soften and break off, allowing the fragments to pass through the digestive tract.
In effect, the pill becomes a floating depot—delivering a steady stream of medication without requiring the patient to remember to take it again until the following week.
“This really demonstrates that what we had hypothesized a decade ago… could be possible,” said Traverso. “Here what you see is that the capsule can achieve the drug levels that were predicted, and also control symptoms in a sizable cohort of patients with schizophrenia.”
Stability Without the Daily Struggle
The problem LYN-005 addresses is far-reaching. Schizophrenia, and its cousin schizoaffective disorder, are chronic mental illnesses marked by delusions, hallucinations, and disordered thinking. They are also notoriously difficult to manage when medication isn’t taken consistently—something that’s not uncommon for many patients.
For people struggling with psychosis, remembering a daily pill can be difficult. Cognitive impairment, stigma, and the sheer burden of illness all contribute to missed doses. This often leads to relapse, hospitalization, and worsening symptoms.
Injectable antipsychotics exist and can be administered every few weeks or months—but not everyone is willing or able to accept injections. And those require in-person visits with trained professionals.
That’s where a weekly oral option becomes game-changing.
“Having the option to take medication by mouth once a week represents an important option that can assist with adherence for the many patients who would prefer oral medications versus injectable formulations,” said Leslie Citrome, the study’s lead author and a clinical professor of psychiatry at New York Medical College.
A Trial That Reflects the Faces of Schizophrenia
The trial had a notably diverse participant pool: 75% were male, and 81% were Black or African American, with an average age of 49. That kind of demographic representation is rare in psychiatric studies and strengthens the relevance of the findings.
Only 47 of the 83 participants completed the five-week study, though researchers say the results were consistent across those who did. Blood levels of risperidone stayed within the therapeutic range throughout the week, showing less variability than daily pills.
The weekly pill was also well tolerated. Participants experienced some gastrointestinal side effects —mild constipation and acid reflux—but short-lived. Only one event had serious treatment-related adverse effects.
“This offers a novel long-acting oral drug delivery technology for schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder,” the study authors concluded.
What Comes Next?
The results offer compelling evidence that the weekly pill works. However, researchers are planning larger trials before the company seeks FDA approval.
If the approach succeeds with risperidone, it could be applied to other medications—potentially including drugs for conditions like hypertension, asthma, and even birth control.
“We are delighted that this technology which started at MIT has reached the point of phase 3 clinical trials,” said Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT and co-founder of Lyndra Therapeutics.
In a landscape crowded with high-tech medical advances, this tiny star-shaped device stands out for what it cuts off. No need for injections. No daily reminders. Just one pill, once a week, quietly doing its job.
And for people living with schizophrenia, that simplicity could mean the difference between crisis and control.
