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Effectiveness of lurasidone in schizophrenia or schizoaffective patients switched from other antipsychotics: a 6-month, open-label, extension study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2013

Leslie Citrome*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA
Peter J Weiden
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Joseph P McEvoy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Georgia Regents University, Augusta, Georgia, USA
Christoph U. Correll
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry & Molecular Medicine, Hofstra North Shore – LIJ School of Medicine, Hempstead, New York, USA
Josephine Cucchiaro
Affiliation:
Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA
Jay Hsu
Affiliation:
Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA
Antony Loebel
Affiliation:
Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Fort Lee, New Jersey, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: Leslie Citrome, MD, MPH, 11 Medical Park Drive, Suite 106, Pomona, NY 10970, USA. (Email: citrome@cnsconsultant.com)
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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the long-term safety and tolerability of lurasidone in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder patients switched to lurasidone.

Method

Patients in this multicenter, 6-month open-label, flexible-dose, extension study had completed a core 6-week randomized trial in which clinically stable, but symptomatic, outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were switched to lurasidone. Patients started the extension study on treatment with the same dose of lurasidone taken at study endpoint of the 6-week core study; following this, lurasidone was flexibly dosed (40–120 mg/day), if clinically indicated, starting on Day 7 of the extension study. The primary safety endpoints were the proportion of patients with treatment emergent adverse events (AEs), serious AEs, or who discontinued due to AEs. Secondary endpoints included metabolic variables and measures of extrapyramidal symptoms and akathisia, as well as the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), Clinical Global Impressions-Severity (CGI-S), and the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS). The study was conducted from August 2010 to November 2011.

Results

Of the 198 patients who completed the 6-week core study, 149 (75.3%) entered the extension study and 148 received study medication. A total of 98 patients (65.8%) completed the 6-month extension study. Lurasidone 40, 80, and 120 mg were the modal daily doses for 19 (12.8%), 65 (43.9%), and 64 (43.2%) of patients, respectively. Overall mean (SD) daily lurasidone dose was 102.0 mg (77.1). The most commonly reported AEs were insomnia (13 patients [8.8%]), nausea (13 patients [8.8%]), akathisia (12 patients [8.1%]), and anxiety (9 patients [6.1%]). A total of 16 patients (10.8%) had at least one AE leading to discontinuation from the study. Consistent with prior studies of lurasidone, there was no signal for clinically relevant adverse changes in body weight, lipids, glucose, insulin, or prolactin. Movement disorder rating scales did not demonstrate meaningful changes. Treatment failure (defined as any occurrence of discontinuation due to insufficient clinical response, exacerbation of underlying disease, or AE) was observed for 19 patients (12.8% of patients entering) and median time to treatment failure was 58 days (95% CI 22–86). The discontinuation rate due to any cause was 50/148 (33.8%), and median time to discontinuation was 62 days (95% CI 30–75). The mean PANSS total score, mean CGI-S score, and mean CDSS score decreased consistently from core study baseline across extension visits, indicating an improvement in overall condition.

Conclusions

In this 6-month, open-label extension study, treatment with lurasidone was generally well-tolerated with sustained improvement in efficacy measures observed in outpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who had switched to lurasidone from a broad range of antipsychotic agents.

Information

Type
Original Research
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - SA
The online version of this article is published within an Open Access environment subject to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence . The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use.
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013
Figure 0

Table 1 Patient demographics and baseline clinical characteristics (safety population)

Figure 1

Table 2 Adverse events with an incidence ≥ 2% (safety population)

Figure 2

Figure 1 Median change from core study baseline to LOCF endpoint on metabolic variables. The number of patients available for assessment ranged from 117 for triglycerides and glucose to 144 for weight. Median changes from extension study baseline to LOCF endpoint were similarly small (weight −0.7 kg, total cholesterol −2.0 mg/dL, triglycerides 6.0 mg/dL, glucose 2.0 mg/dL).

Figure 3

Table 3 Changes in weight ≥ 7% from core and extension study baselines to LOCF endpoint (N = 144)

Figure 4

Table 4 Metabolic variables – mean (standard deviation) change for weight and median change for lipids and glucose, from core study baseline at 6 months and to LOCF endpoint, by pre-switch antipsychotic medication

Figure 5

Table 5 Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Clinical Global Impressions–Severity, and Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia – mean change (standard deviation) from core and extension study baselines to LOCF endpoint, LS mean (standard error), and within-group p-value

Figure 6

Figure 2a Time to treatment failure (Kaplan–Meier). Treatment failure is defined as discontinuation due to insufficient clinical response, exacerbation of underlying disease, or an adverse event.

Figure 7

Figure 2b Time to discontinuation for any cause (Kaplan–Meier).