Abilify Maintena Research Articles

Pharmacoeconomic comparison of aripiprazole once-monthly and paliperidone palmitate from a head-to-head clinical trial in schizophrenia: a US analysis.

Schizophrenia presents a substantial clinical and economic burden to the health-care system. In QUAlity of LIfe with AbiliFY Maintena (QUALIFY), a randomized head-to-head study of aripiprazole once-monthly 400 mg (AOM 400) compared with paliperidone palmitate (PP; 78–234 mg/mo), AOM 400 demonstrated greater improvement in health-related quality of life and functioning in patients with stable schizophrenia. The present analysis used health economics assessment data collected during the QUALIFY study to determine the direct medical and pharmacy costs and the cost-effectiveness associated with each treatment over 6 months. Compared with those receiving PP, patients receiving AOM 400 incurred significantly lower direct total costs ($8908±186 vs $9675±190, p=0.005) and treatment costs ($7967±113 vs $8706±116, p<0.001). Effectiveness results in the subset of patients included in the cost analyses were similar to the overall population: mean (95% CI) improvement in Heinrichs-Carpenter Quality of Life Scale total score was greater with AOM 400 (5.97 [3.87; 8.08]) compared with PP (2.85 [0.56; 5.08]). Likewise, Clinical Global Impression–Severity improved more in the AOM 400 group (−0.59 [−0.71; −0.47]) compared with PP group (−0.37 [−0.46; −0.27]). Therefore, the analysis of data from stabilized patients with schizophrenia in the QUALIFY study indicated that AOM 400 is associated with lower health-care costs and greater effectiveness compared with PP and thus represents the economically dominant strategy.

Aripiprazole long-acting injectable (ABILIFY MAINTENA) for treatment of schizophrenia

ABSTRACT Introduction Patients with schizophrenia often relapse as a result of medication nonadherence. Methods Long-acting injectable antipsychotics have been developed to improve medication adherence rates in this patient population. Results Aripiprazole long-acting injection (LAI), branded Abilify Maintena®, received Food and Drug Administration approval for the treatment of schizophrenia in February of 2013. Aripiprazole LAI is the fourth intramuscular second-generation antipsychotic indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia. Discussion This manuscript reviews important clinical information regarding its use as well as efficacy and tolerability data.

Ultra-High-Dose Long-Acting Injectable Aripiprazole in Chronic Refractory Schizophrenia: A Case Report

An intramuscular long-acting injectable (LAI) aripiprazole administered once a month as a single injection into the gluteal muscle is increasingly appreciated in the course of a long-term maintenance treatment of schizophrenia. Due to efficacy in delaying and decreasing relapse, low rates of feared side effects including extrapyramidal, metabolic and cardiovascular disturbances, aripiprazole LAI has the potential to significantly improve adherence. According to the prescribing information, the maximal starting as well as maintenance dose of aripiprazole LAI is restricted to 400 mg following a 26-day interval between the single doses. We present a case of a 72-year-old female inpatient with an acute exacerbation of chronic refractory schizophrenia treated with aripiprazole LAI (ABILIFY MAINTENA) beyond the officially approved dose range (up to 1200 mg per month). Applying this ultra-high-dose antipsychotic maintenance treatment over 12 weeks, we observed a clinically meaningful reduction of the initially severe psychopathological phenomena with primarily positive symptoms (a total-score reduction from 111 to 75 on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale; PANSS). Despite multi-morbidity and rather advanced age of the patient, no objectifiable adverse events, which were measured by The Dosage Record Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (DOTES) and The Barnes Akathisia Rating Scale (BARS), occurred during the treatment. Our safe experience with an almost threefold higher monthly dose might encourage researchers to further investigate the efficacy, tolerability as

Aripiprazole (ABILIFY MAINTENA®): a review of its use as maintenance treatment for adult patients with schizophrenia.

Aripiprazole (ABILIFY(®)) is an atypical antipsychotic drug that is proposed to act via partial agonism of dopamine D2 receptors. Trials with oral aripiprazole have shown that, compared with some other atypical antipsychotics, aripiprazole is associated with fewer metabolic disturbances and has a favourable cardiovascular tolerability profile. Recently, an intramuscular long-acting injectable (LAI) depot formulation of aripiprazole (ABILIFY MAINTENA(®)) (aripiprazole LAI) has been approved for use as a treatment for schizophrenia in adults. The efficacy of aripiprazole LAI as a maintenance treatment for schizophrenia has been demonstrated in randomized clinical trials. In the trials, aripiprazole LAI was more effective than placebo, and noninferior to oral aripiprazole, in delaying relapse and in reducing relapse rates in schizophrenia. Aripiprazole LAI was generally well tolerated, with a tolerability profile consistent with that of oral aripiprazole. Thus, aripiprazole LAI is a valuable new treatment option for adult patients with schizophrenia. It may be of particular use for patients stable on oral aripiprazole who would prefer, or are likely to benefit from, a long-acting formulation.

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Med Check

Long-Acting Injectable Aripiprazole

Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness with a lifetime prevalence of approximately one percent worldwide. Maintenance antipsychotic treatment has been effective in preventing relapses in long-term follow-up studies. Logically it can be proposed that long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAI) might reduce both unintentional and intentional nonadherence. Long-acting injectable aripiprazole was approved for the treatment of schizophrenia by the U.S. FDA on 28th February 2013 and will be marketed under the name Abilify Maintena. Aripiprazole LAI (ALAI) is a lyophilized powder that needs to be reconstituted with sterile water to form an injectable suspension without affecting the original molecule. The monthly injection interval is very attractive since patients prefer fewer injections. From a tolerability perspective, ALAI appears to be both weight neutral and lacking metabolic side effects. This can confer an advantage over the other currently available second-generation antipsychotic LAIs. Simple constitution with sterile water and no requirement to refrigerate make storage and administration easier. Like all medications, there are always potential disadvantages to ALAI. There is a period of oral coverage, while not as long as for long-acting risperidone microspheres (RLAI), that is required. Care must be taken to review concomitant medications for the presence of metabolic inducers and inhibitors. One would also expect some patients to be sensitive to extrapyramidal symptoms, especially akathisia which is well documented in the oral preparation. All things considered, we welcome our new tool, ALAI, to our work-place and predict both clinical practice and post marketing analysis and studies will discover its true value.