The results were seen in patients who had a recent manic or mixed episode and were then stabilized with the medication for at least six weeks. Abilify is one of only two atypical antipsychotics indicated for maintenance therapy in bipolar I disorder.
“Bipolar I disorder is a lifelong episodic illness. These findings are important because they support existing Abilify data for delaying the recurrence of mood symptoms,” said Roger McIntyre, head, Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit, University Health Network.
“In fact, a recent study showed that nearly 50% of individuals who responded to initial treatment had relapses within two years, underscoring the importance of long-term maintenance treatment.”
The primary goal of the trial was time to relapse for a manic, mixed, or depressive episode up to and including week 26. This study was terminated when a pre-determined number of subjects had relapsed for the primary endpoint.
The study showed that with up to 100 weeks of treatment, Abilify continued to delay the time to relapse in manic, depressive, or mixed episodes compared to placebo. The majority of the relapses were due to manic rather than depressive symptoms. There is insufficient data to know whether Abilify is effective in delaying the time to occurrence of depression in adults with bipolar I disorder.