Dosing Cariprazine Within and Beyond Clinical Trials: Recommendations for the Treatment of Schizophrenia

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Jan 5:12:770234. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.770234. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Although the optimal dosing of an antipsychotic medication is known to be essential in the long-term management of schizophrenia, in case of novel drugs such as cariprazine, determining the right dosing strategy is not that simple. Without decades of experience with a particular compound, evidence regarding dosing and titration comes primarily from double-blind, placebo controlled clinical trials that are not necessarily mirroring the real-life experiences of doctors. Via summarizing data from both clinical data (n = 3275) and real-world evidence (observational study n = 116, case studies n = 29), this perspective paper aims to shed a light on the appropriate dosing strategies of cariprazine from treatment initiation through switching strategies to concomitant medications.

Keywords: antipsychotic; cariprazine; dosing; psychopharmacotherapy; schizophrenia.