Cariprazine Effective for Long-Term Sustained Remission in Patients With Schizophrenia

The following article is part of live conference coverage from the 2017 Psych Congress in New Orleans, Louisiana. Psychiatry Advisor’s staff will be reporting breaking news associated with research conducted by leading experts in psychiatry, as well as presentations from the Congress. Visit Psychiatry Advisor’s conference section for continuous coverage live from Psych Congress 2017.

NEW ORLEANS — In patients with schizophrenia, cariprazine treatment is associated with significantly higher rates of long-term sustained remission compared with placebo, according to new findings presented at Psych Congress 2017, held September 16-19, 2017.

Since many patients with schizophrenia do not achieve complete recovery, sustaining remission is an important treatment goal.

Christoph U. Correll, from the Zucker Hillside Hospital, Northwell Health, in Glen Oaks, New York, and colleagues conducted a randomized, double-blind, relapse prevention trial in which 200 patients participated. Patients who met stabilization criteria with cariprazine (3 to 9 mg/d) during a 20-week, open-label phase were randomly and blindly assigned to either continue cariprazine (3, 6, or 9 mg/d) or switch to placebo for up to 72 weeks.

Symptomatic remission was defined as a score of <3 (mild) on the following Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale items: mannerisms and posturing, unusual thought content, blunted affect, social withdrawal, lack of spontaneity, delusions, conceptual disorganization, and hallucinatory behavior.

After 6 months, more cariprazine-treated patients met the sustained remission criteria, although the difference was not significant (odds ratio [OR] 2.21; 95% CI, .89-5.46; P =.1089). Compared with placebo-treated patients, significantly more cariprazine-treated patients sustained remission for any 6 consecutive months during the double-blind study (OR 1.90; 95% CI, 1.05-3.44; P =.0379) or 6 consecutive months prior to the last study visit (OR 2.44; 95% CI, 1.30-4.55, P =.0057).

The mean duration of sustained remission during treatment was longer in the cariprazine-treated patients than in the placebo-treated patients (mean number of days, 219 vs 157, respectively).

Findings from this study suggest that cariprazine is an effective treatment for maintaining long-term sustained remission in patients with schizophrenia.

Visit Psychiatry Advisor’s conference section for continuous coverage live from Psych Congress 2017.

Reference

Correll CU, Potkin SG, Durgam S, et al. Long-term remission with cariprazine treatment in patients with schizophrenia: a post-hoc analysis of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, relapse prevention trial. Presented at: Psych Congress 2017; September 16-19, 2017; New Orleans, Louisiana. Abstract 306.