Allergan and Gedeon Richter announce poster presentations at APA annual meeting

Allergan plc and Gedeon Richter plc recently announced the presentation of nine posters at the American Psychiatric Association (ASA) annual meeting. 

The posters focus on scientific information and clinical research on the atypical antipsychotic cariprazine. The annual meeting, held in Atlanta, begins on May 14 and ends on May 18.

"Advancing scientific discovery and addressing unmet clinical needs are at the heart of Allergan's Open Science approach," Allergan Global R&D President and EVP Dr. David Nicholson said. "The abstracts presented at APA underscore the safety and efficacy of cariprazine, and investigated its potential to provide additional therapeutic benefits for the treatment of bipolar depression and the negative symptoms of schizophrenia."

Cariprazine is approved for adult patients with bipolar I disorder and for schizophrenia. Bipolar patients may suffer from manic or mixed episodes. Cariprazine is believed to affect neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin.

The once daily oral medication helps control the mania and mixed mood episodes that characterize bipolar disorder. Mania is described as being overly happy or energetic, while mixed episodes combine mania and depression.

Schizophrenia is an imbalance of the neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine and serotonin. It affects the clarity of thought, the ability to relate to other people and how a person handles emotions. Schizophrenic episodes may include hallucinations, delusions, withdrawal from other people and difficulty in understanding and remembering information.