The long-term efficacy of Brintellix® (vortioxetine) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) [1]

As many as 1 in 4 people who recover from a major depressive episode (MDE) will have a recurrence within the first year.2 Additionally, a greater number of previous episodes, a longer duration of a MDE and more severe depressive symptoms are typically predictive of future recurrences.3

To prevent relapse and recurrence, long-term treatment of at least six months following remission of the acute depressive episode is recommended.

Data from five long-term, open-label, flexible-dose extension studies assessed whether improvements in depressive symptoms in MDD continue after acute (six-to-eight weeks) Brintellix® treatment.1

See the findings below.

 

Brintellix® (5-20 mg) delivers sustained relief from symptoms of MDD over the long-term.1,5

Change in MADRS total score for patients previously treated with Brintellix® 5-20 mg/day in controlled trials (acute) who continued treatment in open-label extension studies over 52 weeks1

 

Adapted from Vieta E et al. 2017.
The horizontal dashed line indicates the cut point for remission (defined by MADRS total score ≤10).
The vertical dashed line represents start of treatment in the extension study.
 

Improvements in MDD symptoms seen with Brintellix® during the short-term (6-8 weeks) studies continued at the start of the extension study and were maintained with continuous treatment over 52 weeks.1

Brintellix® was shown to be generally well tolerated over the long term1 and had a safety profile consistent with previous clinical studies.5,6 The most commonly reported treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE) was nausea (16.6%). Other TEAEs with an incidence of ≥5% included headache (12.9%), nasopharyngitis (9.4%), diarrhea (6.4%) and weight increase (5.3%).The rate of withdrawal during the long-term extension due to any TEAE was low (7.8%).1

† As measured by MADRS.
§ Based on incidence of discontinuation symptoms (as measured by the DESS scale) and withdrawal rates due to TEAEs.5,6
 

Abbreviations:
MADRS, Montgomery-Åsberg depression rating scale; MDD, major depressive disorder; MDE, major depressive episode; TEAE, treatment-emergent adverse event.

References

Vieta E et al. Eur Neuropschopharmacol 2017; 27(9): 877-884.
2. Solomon DA et al. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157: 229-233.
3. Bauer M et al. World J Biol Psychiatry 2015; 16: 76-95.
4. Lam RW et al. Can J Psychiatry. 2016; 61(9): 510-523.
5. Brintellix® Summary of Product Characteristics. 2021. https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/medicines/human/EPAR/brintellix. [Last accessed: September 2021]. [Physician Information Leaflet (lundbeck.com)]
6. Baldwin DS et al. J Psychopharmacol 2016; 30(3): 242–252.