Brexpiprazole Provides Short- and Long-Term Benefits in Schizophrenia

Brexpiprazole, an atypical antipsychotic, appears to have short- and long-term benefits, a recent study published in Schizophrenia Bulletin Open confirms.

The study analyzed clinical trial reports to determine short- and long-term effects of brexpiprazole across schizophrenia symptoms based on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and five subscales.

To study short-term effects, the researchers used data from 3 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled brexpiprazole studies in patients with acute schizophrenia. Long-term maintenance effects were studied using the 52-week Equator clinical trial. Two additional studies were also used to measure long-term effects.

In the short-term studies, patients in the brexpiprazole group were associated with greater improvement in each subscale score from baseline to week 6 compared with the control group participants. The patients using the antipsychotic were also associated with greater improvement in 25 of 30 PANSS scale symptoms at week 6 compared with the control group participants. Improvement was also seen at 52 and 58 weeks.

Limitations include the study’s post hoc nature, patient selection criteria regarding concomitant medications, and a small sample size for the long-term studies.

“Treatment with brexpiprazole in the recommended dose range was associated with clinically relevant improvement in all five Marder factors among adults with acute schizophrenia, and with maintenance of this improvement in stabilized schizophrenia,” the researchers concluded.

The findings suggest that brexpiprazole “treats the continuum of schizophrenia symptoms in the short- and long-term.”

Disclosure: This research was funded by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization and H Lundbeck. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures. 

Reference

Marder SR, Meehan SR, Weiss C, Chen D, Hobart M, Hefting N. Effects of brexpiprazole across symptom domains in patients with schizophrenia: Post hoc analysis of short- and long-term studies. Schizophr Bull Open. 2021;sgab014. doi:10.1093.schizbullopen/sgab014

This article originally appeared on Psychiatry Advisor