In response to the extrapyramidal side effects that affected almost 40% of patients treated with first-generation antipsychotics (FGAs) in the 1960s, clozapine, the first atypical or second-generation antipsychotic was introduced to the European market in 1971.¹ Clozapine offered a reduced rate of extrapyramidal side effects but at the cost of an increased risk of life-threatening agranulocytosis. Consequently, clozapine was quickly withdrawn from the market but later entered the U.S. market in 1990, accompanied by a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy for blood monitoring.

Shortly after the re-emergence of clozapine, numerous second generation antipsychotics (SGAs) hit the market, including