Open AccessBest Practices for Aripiprazole Lauroxil Administration: From Formulation Development to Injection Technique
Author(s) -
Sarah Farwick,
Magali B. Hickey,
Gwen A. Jacobs,
Sejal P Faldu,
Jennifer Vandiver,
Peter J. Weiden
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of psychiatric practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.395
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1538-1145
pISSN - 1527-4160
DOI - 10.1097/pra.0000000000000376
Subject(s) - aripiprazole , medicine , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , syringe , antipsychotic , clinical practice , pharmacology , psychiatry , physical therapy
Long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics are an important treatment option for patients with schizophrenia. Advances and variability in formulation technology have provided several LAI antipsychotic treatment options for schizophrenia, with a wide range of doses and dose intervals. However, clinical reviews of LAIs have not focused on formulation development despite its clinical relevance to injection safety and technique. This article reviews the relationship between formulation technology and clinical practices for LAIs, with a focus on aripiprazole lauroxil, a long-acting atypical antipsychotic indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia. The formulation developed for aripiprazole lauroxil is an aqueous-based suspension suitable for use as a prefilled syringe that, after injection, will release aripiprazole slowly into the plasma. The clinical relationship between the aripiprazole lauroxil formulation and proper injection techniques is explained, including why tapping and shaking the syringe to resuspend the drug particles and rapid injection speed are key steps for best injection practices for this formulation.