Beyond 52-Week Long-Term Safety: Long-Term Outcomes of Aripiprazole Lauroxil for Patients With Schizophrenia Continuing in an Extension Study.

Objective: To describe the long-term safety, tolerability, and symptom trajectory with the long-acting injectable antipsychotic aripiprazole lauroxil (AL) in patients with DSM-5-diagnosed schizophrenia followed for up to 180 weeks (3.5 years).

Methods: Long-term safety of 2 fixed doses of AL (441 or 882 mg every 4 weeks) was assessed during up to 180 weeks (3.5 years) of continuous AL exposure using data from 2 sequential long-term safety studies. Safety metrics included adverse events (AEs), AEs leading to study discontinuations, physical examinations, laboratory parameters, and extrapyramidal symptom (EPS) rating scales. Symptom trajectory was assessed in post hoc analyses using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale total (PANSST) and Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness scale (CGI-S) scores.

Results: A total of 478 patients entered the 52-week study and were included in the safety analysis. After the first 52 weeks, safety assessments revealed no new safety concerns and were consistent with the known safety profile of aripiprazole. AEs were reported by 57.5% of patients (441 mg, 52.7%; 882 mg, 59.0%). EPS-related AEs occurred in 12.8% of patients (441 mg, 9.1%; 882 mg, 13.9%). In the post hoc analysis (n = 432), least-squares mean (SE) PANSST scores improved significantly from weeks 12 to 124 with AL 441 mg (-5.5 [0.9]) and 882 mg (-5.0 [0.5]; both P < .0001). CGI-S scores followed a similar pattern of improvement.

Conclusions: The AL safety profile over 180 weeks (3.5 years) of follow-up was consistent with prior 52-week results. Continued therapeutic efficacy, based on PANSST and CGI-S scores, was observed throughout the post hoc analysis period.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01626456; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01895452.