Long-Term Treatment of Tardive Dyskinesia With Valbenazine Appears Safe, Effective

Long-term treatment with valbenazine for tardive dyskinesia (TD) appears to be safe and well-tolerated while maintaining treatment effects seen in an earlier short-term trial, according to areport in theJournal of Clinical Psychiatry. In April, the Food and Drug Administrationapproved Ingrezza (valbenazine) capsules to treat adults with TD —a serious side effect associated with chronic use of antipsychotics—making it the first FDA-approved product for the condition. This approval was based in part on the results of asix-week trial, which compared changes in involuntary movements in patients with moderate-to-severe TD who took valbenazine (40 mg/day or 80 mg/day) or with those taking placebo daily. As was reported in theAmerican Journal of Psychiatry (May 2017), treatment with valbenazine resulted in a significant reduction in patients ’ Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) dyskinesia score compared with placebo.In the current study, Stuart A. Factor, D.O., of Emory University and colleagues tracked the long-term outcomes of 198 patients who entered a 42-week valbenazine extension period following the initial six-week trial. Safety assessments included treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and scales for suicidal ideation/behavior, treatment-emergent akathisia or parkinsonism, and psychiatric symptoms. Efficacy assessments included the AIMS and Clinical Global Impression of Change-Tardive Dyskinesia.Of the 198 patients who entered the valbenazine extension...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: efficacy Ingrezza Journal of Clinical Psychiatry safety and tolerability Stuart A. Factor tardive dyskinesia TD valbenazine Source Type: research