# Efficacy of lurasidone on anxiety symptoms in patients with schizophrenia: A pooled post hoc analysis of five randomized, placebo‐controlled trials

## TL;DR

This study found that lurasidone, a schizophrenia medication, effectively reduces anxiety symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, even without additional anxiety medications.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates lurasidone's direct efficacy on anxiety symptoms in schizophrenia patients through pooled analysis of five clinical trials.

## Key findings

- Lurasidone at 40 and 80 mg doses significantly reduced anxiety scores in patients with severe baseline anxiety.
- Improvement in anxiety symptoms was observed without concomitant anxiolytic use at 40 mg.
- PANSS total and subscale scores improved significantly with lurasidone compared to placebo.

## Abstract

Comorbid anxiety disorders and their symptoms are common in schizophrenia and may occur before a relapse. The aim of this post hoc analysis is to investigate the efficacy of lurasidone on comorbid anxiety symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.

Data were pooled from five Phase 3 randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled 6‐week trials of lurasidone treatment of schizophrenia, focusing on the 40 and 80 mg doses compared with placebo. Subgroup analyses were performed in two subgroups: severe (baseline Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale [PANSS] G2 anxiety score ≥ 4) and non‐severe anxiety (baseline PANSS G2 score < 4).

In the severe anxiety group, both the 40 and 80 mg doses of lurasidone significantly reduced PANSS G2 score from Weeks 2 to 6 compared to placebo. In patients not receiving concomitant anxiolytics, significant improvement in the PANSS G2 score was observed at Week 6 for lurasidone 40 mg compared to placebo. In both lurasidone dose groups, PANSS total and subscale scores were significantly reduced at Week 6 compared to placebo. For baseline‐to‐Week‐6 change scores, the PANSS G2 score and PANSS positive subscale score showed a moderate correlation. There were no new AEs of concern for lurasidone in this pooled analysis.

The results suggest treatment with 40 or 80 mg/day of lurasidone improves anxiety symptoms in schizophrenia patients with moderate to severe anxiety, at least in part, through a direct effect, and this effect was demonstrated by lurasidone monotherapy, without the use of concomitant anxiolytics.