Aripiprazole Wins Schizophrenia Treatment Showdown

In a head-to-head study, aripiprazole (Abilify Maintena) treatment from H. Lundbeck A/S and Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc. showed superior effectiveness to Janssen’s paliperidone palmitate (Invega Sustenna) treatment in adult patients with schizophrenia.

In the QUALIFY study, 281 schizophrenia patients in North America and Europe were randomized to receive once-monthly 400 mg or 300 mg intramuscular aripiprazole injections or once-monthly 50 mg to 234 mg intramuscular paliperidone palmitate injections. An additional 14 patients were randomized to placebo.

After 28 weeks, the schizophrenia patients treated with aripiprazole demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in their total Heinrichs-Carpenter Quality of Life Scale score compared with those treated with paliperidone palmitate. The difference between treatments was also confirmed by changes from baseline in the Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale, which clinicians use to evaluate the severity of a patient's illness.

While both schizophrenia treatments were well-tolerated throughout the study, there were lower rates of discontinuation due to adverse events within the aripiprazole group.

Lundbeck and Otsuka said data from the QUALIFY study will be presented at upcoming medical congresses and published in scientific journals.