PARIS, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - The first new class of drugs in more than a decade for treating schizophrenia worked at least as well in a clinical trial as standard medications, a study released Sunday showed.

Unlike current anti-psychotic drugs, which block the uptake of a naturally occurring chemical called dopamine, the new drug acts on a different neurotransmitter, glutamate.

The new treatment also reduced certain undesirable side-effects, according to the study, published in the British journal Nature Science.