The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received a new drug application (NDA) from Ireland-based Alkermes for its aripiprazole lauroxil to treat schizophrenia.
Aripiprazole lauroxil is an injectable atypical antipsychotic with one-month and two-month formulations, developed for the treatment of schizophrenia, which is a chronic, severe and disabling brain disorder.
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The company has submitted the application based on positive results from the pivotal phase three study that assessed the efficacy and safety of aripiprazole lauroxil, where the drug demonstrated significant improvements in schizophrenia symptoms when compared to a placebo.
Alkermes CEO Richard Pops said: "We have designed aripiprazole lauroxil to be a differentiated treatment option for schizophrenia, with a ready-to-use format with multiple dosing options, to help meet the individual needs of patients and their healthcare providers.
"These attributes, together with the robust clinical data observed in the pivotal study, position aripiprazole lauroxil to be a meaningful new entrant in the growing long-acting injectable antipsychotic market, and we look forward to working with the FDA to bring this important new medication to patients and physicians as quickly as possible."
The study, in which both doses of aripiprazole lauroxil tested, including 441mg and 882mg, reached the primary endpoint with statistically significant and clinically meaningful reductions in positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS) scores, according to the company.
In addition, it met all secondary endpoints and demonstrated significant improvements in schizophrenia symptoms against the placebo.
