Intramuscular Depot Formulation of Aripiprazole as Maintenance Treatment in Patients With Schizophrenia (ASPIRE)

A 38-week, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-blind, Active-controlled Study to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of an Intramuscular Depot Formulation of Aripiprazole (OPC-14597) as Maintenance Treatment in Patients With Schizophrenia

The purpose of the this trial is to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of an intramuscular (IM) depot formulation of aripiprazole as maintenance treatment in patients with schizophrenia

The trial is designed into three treatment phases. Phase 1 is designed to allow for a subject to be converted from the current anti-psychotic treatment to oral non-generic aripiprazole monotherapy (oral conversion phase from 4 to 6 weeks). During Phase 2 the subject will be stabilized on oral non-generic aripiprazole monotherapy. Once the subject is stabilized in Phase 2 (oral stabilization phase from minimum 8 weeks to maximum 28 weeks), they are eligible to be randomized into the double-blind IM depot maintenance phase, Phase 3. During Phase 3, the subject will be assessed for exacerbation of psychotic symptoms and impending relapse for up to 38 weeks.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Schizophrenia
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Aripiprazole depot 300 or 400 mg; Drug: Placebo tablets; Drug: Aripiprazole 10-30 mg orally; Drug: Placebo depot; Drug: Aripiprazole depot 25 or 50 mg

Detailed Description

This will be a randomized, double-blind, active-controlled study consisting of a screening phase and 3 treatment phases. Eligibility will be determined during a screening phase of 2 to 42 days. Subjects currently receiving oral treatment with an anti-psychotic other than non-generic aripiprazole will enter Phase 1, and subjects with a lapse in aripiprazole or other anti-psychotic treatment at the time of study entry ("lapse" defined as > 3 consecutive days without medication) will enter directly into Phase 2.

During Phase 1 (oral conversion), subjects will be cross-titrated during weekly visits from other anti-psychotics to oral non-generic aripiprazole monotherapy over a minimum of 4 weeks and a maximum of 6 weeks. During Phase 2 (that will be a minimum of 8 weeks and a maximum of 28 weeks in duration), subjects will be assessed bi-weekly and stabilized on an oral dose of aripiprazole ranging from 10 mg to 30 mg daily. After stability criteria are met at Phase 2, subjects are eligible to be randomized into the double-blind IM depot maintenance phase, Phase 3. Subjects will be randomized with a 2:2:1 (aripiprazole IM depot 300-400 mg monthly, oral aripiprazole 10-30 mg daily, aripiprazole IM depot 25-50 mg monthly). During Phase 3 subjects will be assessed for impending relapse/exacerbation of psychotic symptoms. If a subject is identified with impending relapse/exacerbation of psychotic symptoms, they will be withdrawn from the trial and given the opportunity to enroll into an open-label aripiprazole IM depot trial, 31-08-248 (NCT00731549). Alternatively, any subject that discontinues in Phase 3 (up to and including Week 38) will have the option to enroll into an open-label aripiprazole IM depot trial, 31-08-248 (NCT00731549).

The enrollment figure includes re-screened patients.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 937
• Phase: Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Austria
  • Innsbruck, Austria, A-6020
• Belgium
  • Brugge, Belgium, 8200
• Bulgaria
  • Bourgas, Bulgaria, 8000
  • Pazardjik, Bulgaria, 4400
  • Pleven, Bulgaria, 5800
  • Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 4000
  • Sofia, Bulgaria, 1431
  • Sofia, Bulgaria, 1113
  • Sofia, Bulgaria, 1632
  • Varna, Bulgaria, 9000
• Chile
  • Santiago, Chile, 7500710
  • Santiago, Chile, 7510186
  • Santiago, Chile, 8330838
  • Santiago, Chile, 8900085
  • Santiago, Chile, 7510041
  • Santiago, Chile, 8053095
  • Temuco, Chile, 4781151
  • Valdivia, Chile, 5090145
• Croatia
  • Zagreb, Croatia, 10000
  • Zagreb, Croatia, 10 090
• Estonia
  • Meegomäe, Estonia, 65526
  • Tallinn, Estonia, 13419
  • Tallinn, Estonia, 10613
  • Tartu, Estonia, 50406
  • Tartu, Estonia, 50417
  • Viljandi County
    • Jamejala, Viljandi County, Estonia, 71024
• France
  • Bully Les Mines, France, 62160
  • Elancourt, France, 78990
  • Rennes, France, 35703
  • Saint Nazaire, France, 44606
• Hungary
  • Baja, Hungary, 6500
  • Balassagyarmat, Hungary, 2660
  • Cegléd, Hungary, 2700
  • Győőor, Hungary, 9024
• Italy
  • Milano, Italy, 20157
  • Milano, Italy, 20142
  • Pisa, Italy, 56126
• Korea, Republic of
  • Busan, Korea, Republic of, 614-735
  • Daejeon, Korea, Republic of, 301-721
  • Gwangju, Korea, Republic of, 501-757
  • Incheon, Korea, Republic of, 400-711
  • Seoul, Korea, Republic of, 137-701
  • Seoul, Korea, Republic of, 110-744
  • Seoul, Korea, Republic of, 150-950
• Poland
  • Belchatow, Poland, 97-400
  • Bialystok, Poland, 15-879
  • Bydgoszcz, Poland, 85-096
  • Choroszcz, Poland, 16-070
  • Krakow, Poland, 31-501
  • Leszno, Poland, 64-100
  • Pruszków, Poland, 05-802
  • Sosnowiec, Poland, 41-200
  • Wroclaw, Poland, 50-227
• Puerto Rico
  • San Juan, Puerto Rico, 00918
• South Africa
  • Gauteng
    • Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa, 0001
  • Western Province
    • Cape Town, Western Province, South Africa, 7530
• Thailand
  • Bangkok, Thailand, 10330
  • Chiangmai
    • Muang, Chiangmai, Thailand, 50100
    • Muang, Chiangmai, Thailand, 50200
• United States
  • California
    • Cerritos, California, United States, 90703
    • Escondido, California, United States, 92025
    • Garden Grove, California, United States, 92845
    • Oceanside, California, United States, 92056
    • Orange, California, United States, 92868
    • Orange, California, United States, 92868-3298
    • Pasadena, California, United States, 91106
    • Pico Rivera, California, United States, 90660
    • San Diego, California, United States, 92123
    • San Diego, California, United States, 92102
    • San Diego, California, United States, 92103-8620
    • Torrance, California, United States, 90502
  • District of Columbia
    • Washington, District of Columbia, United States, 20016
  • Florida
    • Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32608
    • Kissimmee, Florida, United States, 34741
    • Plantation, Florida, United States, 33317
    • Tampa, Florida, United States, 33613
  • Illinois
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60612
    • Oak Brook, Illinois, United States, 60523
  • Louisiana
    • Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, 71104
  • Maryland
    • Towson, Maryland, United States, 21286
  • Missouri
    • Kansas City, Missouri, United States, 64108
  • New York
    • Buffalo, New York, United States, 14213
    • New York, New York, United States, 10003
    • New York, New York, United States, 10035
    • Rochester, New York, United States, 14624
  • North Carolina
    • Hickory, North Carolina, United States, 28601
    • South Carolina, North Carolina, United States, 29425
  • Ohio
    • Garfield Heights, Ohio, United States, 44125
    • Toledo, Ohio, United States, 43609
  • Oklahoma
    • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, 73112
  • South Carolina
    • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29401
    • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29407
  • Tennessee
    • Johnson City, Tennessee, United States, 37614-1707
    • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37212
  • Texas
    • Arlington, Texas, United States, 76011
    • Austin, Texas, United States, 78756
  • Virginia
    • Richmond, Virginia, United States, 23230
  • Wisconsin
    • Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, 53226

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Subjects who are able to provide written informed consent and/or consent obtained from a legally acceptable representative (as required by Institutional Review Board/Independent Ethics Committee [IRB/IEC]), prior to the initiation of any protocol-required procedures.
• Male and female subjects 18 to 60 years of age, inclusive, at time of informed consent.
• Subjects with a current diagnosis of schizophrenia as defined by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, version 4, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) criteria and a history of the illness for at least 3 years prior to screening.
• Subjects who, in the investigator's judgment, require chronic treatment with an anti-psychotic medication.
• Subjects able to understand the nature of the study and follow protocol requirements, including the prescribed dosage regimens, tablet ingestion, IM depot injection, discontinuation of prohibited concomitant medications, who can read and understand the written word in order to complete patient-reported outcome measures, and who can be reliably rated on assessment scales.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Subjects with a current DSM-IV-TR diagnosis other than schizophrenia, including schizoaffective disorder, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, delirium, dementia, amnestic, or other cognitive disorders. Also, subjects with borderline, paranoid, histrionic, schizotypal, schizoid, or antisocial personality disorder.
• Subjects with schizophrenia that are considered resistant/refractory to antipsychotic treatment by history or response only to clozapine.
• Subjects with a significant risk of violent behavior or a significant risk of committing suicide based on history or investigator's judgment.
• Subjects who currently meet DSM-IV-TR criteria for substance dependence; including alcohol and benzodiazepines, but excluding caffeine and nicotine, or 2 positive drug screens for cocaine.
• Subjects who are known to be allergic, intolerant, or unresponsive to prior treatment with aripiprazole or other quinolinones, or hypersensitivity to anti-psychotic agents, including aripiprazole.
• Subjects with a history of neuroleptic malignant syndrome or clinically significant tardive dyskinesia at screening.
• Subjects with uncontrolled thyroid function abnormalities.
• Subjects with a history of seizures, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, clinically significant tardive dyskinesia, or other medical condition that would expose the subject to undue risk or interfere with study assessments.
• Subjects who are involuntarily incarcerated.
• Subjects who have undergone electroconvulsive therapy within 180 days of entry into Phase 2.
• Subjects who have used an investigational agent within 30 days of screening; and prior participation in a clinical study with aripiprazole IM depot.
• Subjects with clinically significant abnormalities in laboratory test results, vital signs, or ECG results.
• Subjects hospitalized for more than 30 days in the 90 days prior to Phase 1 (or Phase 2 for subjects bypassing Phase 1).
• Subjects requiring more than 1 benzodiazepine beyond screening (eg, lorazepam and oxazepam).
• Subjects who fail to wash-out from prohibited concomitant medications, including the use of CYP2D6 or CYP3A4 inhibitors or CYP3A4 inducers, antipsychotics, antidepressants (including monoamine oxidase inhibitors [MAOI]), and mood stabilizers, during screening and Phase 1.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Aripiprazole depot 300 or 400 mg; Patients received aripiprazole 300 mg or 400 mg depot intramuscularly every 28 days for 38 weeks.	Drug: Aripiprazole depot 300 or 400 mg; Aripiprazole depot was supplied in 400 mg lyophilized vials. Patients received aripiprazole 300 mg if they were unable to tolerate aripiprazole 400 mg.; Other Names: Abilify; Drug: Placebo tablets; Placebo tablets were identical in appearance to the aripiprazole tablets.
Active Comparator: Aripiprazole 10-30 mg orally; Patients received aripiprazole 10-30 mg orally daily for 38 weeks.	Drug: Aripiprazole 10-30 mg orally; Aripiprazole was supplied as 10, 15, and 20 mg tablets. The dose that the patient received was based on the investigator's judgment and the subject's clinical need.; Other Names: Abilify; Drug: Placebo depot; Placebo depot was supplied in lyophilized vials.
Experimental: Aripiprazole depot 25 or 50 mg; Patients received aripiprazole 25 mg or 50 mg depot intramuscularly every 28 days for 38 weeks.	Drug: Placebo tablets; Placebo tablets were identical in appearance to the aripiprazole tablets.; Drug: Aripiprazole depot 25 or 50 mg; Aripiprazole depot was supplied in 200 mg lyophilized vials. Patients received aripiprazole 25 mg if they were unable to tolerate aripiprazole 50 mg.; Other Names: Abilify

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percentage of Patients Meeting Exacerbation of Psychotic Symptoms/Impending Relapse Criteria by the End of Week 26	A patient had exacerbation of psychotic symptoms/impending relapse if they met any of the following 4 criteria. 1) Clinical Global Impression of Improvement score ≥ 5 and either an increase on any of the following Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) items (conceptual disorganization, hallucinatory behavior, suspiciousness, unusual thought content) to a score > 4 with an increase of ≥ 2 on that item since randomization or an increase on any of the same PANSS items to a score > 4 and an increase of ≥ 4 on the same combined PANSS items since randomization, 2) Hospitalization due to worsening of psychotic symptoms, 3) Clinical Global Impression of Severity of Suicide (CGI-SS) score of 4 or 5 on Part 1 and/or 6 or 7 on Part 2, or 4) Violent behavior resulting in clinically significant self-injury, injury to another person, or property damage.	Baseline to Week 26

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Time to Exacerbation of Psychotic Symptoms/Impending Relapse		Baseline to the end of the study (Week 38)
Percentage of Responders up to Week 38	A patient was considered to be a responder if all of the following criteria were met. 1) Outpatient status, 2) PANSS total score ≤ 80, 3) Lack of specific psychotic symptoms on the PANSS as measured by a score of ≤ 4 on each of the following items (possible scores of 1 to 7 for each item): Conceptual disorganization, suspiciousness, hallucinatory behavior, unusual thought content, and 4) Clinical Global Impression of Severity of Illness (CGI-S) ≤ 4 (moderately ill) and 5) CGI-SS ≤ 2 (mildly suicidal) on Part 1 and ≤ 5 (minimally worsened) on Part 2.	Baseline to the end of the study (Week 38)
Percentage of Patients Achieving Remission	A patient was considered to have achieved remission if they had a score of ≤ 3 on each of the following PANSS items, maintained for a period of 6 months: Delusions (P1), unusual thought content (G9), hallucinatory behavior (P3), conceptual disorganization (P2), mannerisms/posturing (G5), blunted affect (N1), social withdrawal (N4), and lack of spontaneity (N6).	Baseline to the end of the study (Week 38)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.
• Investigators: Study Director: Raymond Sanchez, MD, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Kane JM, Sanchez R, Baker RA, Eramo A, Peters-Strickland T, Perry PP, Johnson BR, Tsai LF, Carson WH, McQuade RD, Fleischhacker WW. Patient-Centered Outcomes with Aripiprazole Once-Monthly for Maintenance Treatment in Patients with Schizophrenia: Results From Two Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind Studies. Clin Schizophr Relat Psychoses. 2015 Summer;9(2):79-87. doi: 10.3371/CSRP.KASA.022015. Epub 2015 Feb 24.
• Fleischhacker WW, Sanchez R, Perry PP, Jin N, Peters-Strickland T, Johnson BR, Baker RA, Eramo A, McQuade RD, Carson WH, Walling D, Kane JM. Aripiprazole once-monthly for treatment of schizophrenia: double-blind, randomised, non-inferiority study. Br J Psychiatry. 2014 Aug;205(2):135-44. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.113.134213. Epub 2014 Jun 12.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: September 1, 2008
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): August 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 25, 2008
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 26, 2008
• First Posted (Estimate): June 27, 2008

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): August 14, 2013
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 12, 2013
• Last Verified: July 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Schizophrenia; Aripiprazole; Intramuscular (IM) depot
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders; Schizophrenia; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Neurotransmitter Agents; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Central Nervous System Depressants; Antipsychotic Agents; Tranquilizing Agents; Psychotropic Drugs; Serotonin Agents; Antidepressive Agents; Dopamine Agonists; Dopamine Agents; Serotonin 5-HT1 Receptor Agonists; Serotonin Receptor Agonists; Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Antagonists; Serotonin Antagonists; Dopamine D2 Receptor Antagonists; Dopamine Antagonists; Aripiprazole
• Other Study ID Numbers: 31-07-247