Asenapine

Asenapine

Clinical data
Trade names	Saphris, Sycrest, Secuado
Other names	ORG-5222
AHFS/Drugs.com	Monograph
MedlinePlus	a610015
License data	EU EMA: by INN US DailyMed: Asenapine US FDA: Asenapine
Pregnancy category	AU: C
Routes of administration	Sublingual, transdermal
Drug class	Atypical antipsychotic
ATC code	N05AH05 (WHO)
Legal status
Legal status	AU: S4 (Prescription only) UK: POM (Prescription only) US: ℞-only EU: Rx-only
Pharmacokinetic data
Bioavailability	35% (sublingual), <2% (Oral)
Protein binding	95%
Metabolism	hepatic (glucurinodation by UGT1A4 and oxidative metabolism by CYP1A2)
Elimination half-life	24 hours
Excretion	Kidney (50%), Faecal (40%; ~5–16% as unchanged drug in faeces)
Identifiers
IUPAC name (3aRS,12bRS)-rel-5-Chloro-2,3,3a,12b-tetrahydro- 2-methyl-1H-dibenz[2,3:6,7]oxepino[4,5-c]pyrrole
CAS Number	65576-45-6 N as salt: 85650-56-2
PubChem CID	163091 as salt: 6917875
IUPHAR/BPS	22
DrugBank	DB06216 as salt: DBSALT000010
ChemSpider	2300725 Y as salt: 5293095
UNII	JKZ19V908O as salt: CU9463U2E2
KEGG	D11769 as salt: D02995
ChEBI	CHEBI:71253 N as salt: CHEBI:71245
ChEMBL	ChEMBL1201756 N as salt: ChEMBL2040684
ECHA InfoCard	100.059.828
Chemical and physical data
Formula	C17H16ClNO
Molar mass	285.77 g·mol−1
3D model (JSmol)	Interactive image
SMILES Clc4cc2c(Oc1c(cccc1)[C@@H]3CN(C[C@@H]23)C)cc4
InChI InChI=1S/C17H16ClNO/c1-19-9-14-12-4-2-3-5-16(12)20-17-7-6-11(18)8-13(17)15(14)10-19/h2-8,14-15H,9-10H2,1H3/t14-,15-/m0/s1 Y Key:VSWBSWWIRNCQIJ-GJZGRUSLSA-N Y as salt: InChI=1S/C17H16ClNO.C4H4O4/c1-19-9-14-12-4-2-3-5-16(12)20-17-7-6-11(18)8-13(17)15(14)10-19;5-3(6)1-2-4(7)8/h2-8,14-15H,9-10H2,1H3;1-2H,(H,5,6)(H,7,8)/b;2-1-/t14-,15-;/m1./s1 Key:GMDCDXMAFMEDAG-CHHFXETESA-N
NY (what is this?)  (verify)

Asenapine, sold under the brand name Saphris among others, is an atypical antipsychotic medication used to treat schizophrenia and acute mania associated with bipolar disorder as well as the medium to long-term management of bipolar disorder.

It was chemically derived via altering the chemical structure of the tetracyclic (atypical) antidepressant, mianserin.

It was initially approved in the United States in 2009 and approved as a generic medication in 2020.

Medical uses

Asenapine has been approved by the FDA for the acute treatment of adults with schizophrenia and acute treatment of manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder with or without psychotic features in adults. In Australia asenapine's approved (and also listed on the PBS) indications include the following:

• Schizophrenia
• Treatment, for up to 6 months, of an episode of acute mania or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder
• Maintenance treatment, as monotherapy, of bipolar I disorder

In the European Union and the United Kingdom, asenapine is only licensed for use as a treatment for acute mania in bipolar I disorder.

Asenapine is absorbed readily if administered sublingually, asenapine is poorly absorbed when swallowed. A transdermal formulation of asenapine was approved in the United States in October 2019 under the brand name Secuado.

Schizophrenia

A Cochrane systematic review found that while Asenapine has some preliminary evidence that it improves positive, negative, and depressive symptoms, it does not have enough research to merit a certain recommendation of asenapine for the treatment of schizophrenia.

Bipolar disorder

For the medium-term and long-term management and control of both depressive and manic features of bipolar disorder asenapine was found be equally effective as olanzapine, but with a substantially superior side effect profile.

In acute mania, asenapine was found to be significantly superior to placebo. As for its efficacy in the treatment of acute mania, a recent meta-analysis showed that it produces comparatively small improvements in manic symptoms in patients with acute mania and mixed episodes than most other antipsychotic drugs (with the exception of ziprasidone) such as risperidone and olanzapine. Drop-out rates (in clinical trials) were also unusually high with asenapine. According to a post-hoc analysis of two 3-week clinical trials it may possess some antidepressant effects in patients with acute mania or mixed episodes.

Adverse effects

Adverse effect incidence

Very common (>10% incidence) adverse effects include:

• Somnolence

Common (1-10% incidence) adverse effects include:

• Weight gain
• Increased appetite
• Extrapyramidal side effects (EPS; such as dystonia, akathisia, dyskinesia, muscle rigidity, parkinsonism)
• Sedation
• Dizziness
• Dysgeusia
• Oral hypoaesthesia
• Increased alanine aminotransferase
• Fatigue

Uncommon (0.1-1% incidence) adverse effects include:

• Hyperglycaemia — elevated blood glucose (sugar)
• Syncope
• Seizure
• Dysarthria
• sinus bradycardia
• Bundle branch block
• QTc interval prolongation (has a relatively low risk for causing QTc interval prolongation.)
• sinus tachycardia
• Orthostatic hypotension
• Hypotension
• Swollen tongue
• Dysphagia (difficulty swallowing)
• Glossodynia
• Oral paraesthesia

Rare (0.01-0.1% incidence) adverse effects include:

• Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (Combination of fever, muscle stiffness, faster breathing, sweating, reduced consciousness, and sudden change in blood pressure and heart rate)
• Tardive dyskinesia
• Speech disturbance
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Angioedema
• Blood dyscrasias such as agranulocytosis, leukopenia and neutropenia
• Accommodation disorder
• Pulmonary embolism
• Gynaecomastia
• Galactorrhoea

Unknown incidence adverse effects

• Allergic reaction
• Restless legs syndrome
• Nausea
• Oral mucosal lesions (ulcerations, blistering and inflammation)
• Salivary hypersecretion
• Hyperprolactinaemia

Asenapine seems to have a relatively low weight gain liability for an atypical antipsychotic (which are notorious for their metabolic side effects) and a 2013 meta-analysis found significantly less weight gain (SMD [standard mean difference in weight gained in those on placebo vs. active drug]: 0.23; 95% CI: 0.07-0.39) than, paliperidone (SMD: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.27-0.48), risperidone (SMD: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.33-0.50), quetiapine (SMD: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.34-0.53), sertindole (SMD: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.38-0.68), chlorpromazine (SMD: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.34-0.76), iloperidone (SMD: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.49-0.74), clozapine (SMD: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.31-0.99), zotepine (SMD: 0.71; 95% CI: 0.47-0.96) and olanzapine (SMD: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.67-0.81) and approximately (that is, no statistically significant difference at the p=0.05 level) as much as weight gain as aripiprazole (SMD: 0.17; 95% CI: 0.05-0.28), lurasidone (SMD: 0.10; 95% CI: –0.02-0.21), amisulpride (SMD: 0.20; 95% CI: 0.05-0.35), haloperidol (SMD: 0.09; 95% CI: 0.00-0.17) and ziprasidone (SMD: 0.10; 95% CI: –0.02-0.22). Its potential for elevating plasma prolactin levels seems relatively limited too according to this meta-analysis. This meta-analysis also found that asenapine has approximately the same odds ratio (3.28; 95% CI: 1.37-6.69) for causing sedation [compared to placebo-treated patients] as olanzapine (3.34; 95% CI: 2.46-4.50]) and haloperidol (2.76; 95% CI: 2.04-3.66) and a higher odds ratio (although not significantly) for sedation than aripiprazole (1.84; 95% CI: 1.05-3.05), paliperidone (1.40; 95% CI: 0.85-2.19) and amisulpride (1.42; 95% CI: 0.72 to 2.51) to name a few and is hence a mild-moderately sedating antipsychotic. The same meta-analysis suggested that asenapine had a relatively high risk of extrapyramidal symptoms compared to other atypical antipsychotics but a lower risk than first-generation or typical antipsychotics.

Discontinuation

For all antipsychotics, the British National Formulary recommends a gradual dose reduction when discontinuing to avoid acute withdrawal syndrome or rapid relapse. Symptoms of withdrawal commonly include nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. Other symptoms may include restlessness, increased sweating, and trouble sleeping. Less commonly there may be a feeling of the world spinning, numbness, or muscle pains. Symptoms generally resolve after a short period of time.

There is tentative evidence that discontinuation of antipsychotics can result in psychosis as a transient withdrawal symptom. It may also result in recurrence of the condition that is being treated. Rarely tardive dyskinesia can occur when the medication is stopped.

Pharmacology

Pharmacodynamics

Asenapine shows high affinity (pKi) for numerous receptors, including the serotonin 5-HT_1A (8.6), 5-HT_1B (8.4), 5-HT_2A (10.2), 5-HT_2B (9.8), 5-HT_2C (10.5), 5-HT_5A (8.8), 5-HT₆ (9.5), and 5-HT₇ (9.9) receptors, the adrenergic α₁ (8.9), α_2A (8.9), α_2B (9.5), and α_2C (8.9) receptors, the dopamine D₁ (8.9), D₂ (8.9), D₃ (9.4), and D₄ (9.0) receptors, and the histamine H₁ (9.0) and H₂ (8.2) receptors. It has much lower affinity (pKi < 5) for the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. Asenapine behaves as a partial agonist at the 5-HT_1A receptors. At all other targets asenapine is an antagonist.

Even relative to other atypical antipsychotics, asenapine has unusually high affinity for the 5-HT_2A, 5-HT_2C, 5-HT₆, and 5-HT₇ receptors, and very high affinity for the α₂ and H₁ receptors.

External links

• "Asenapine". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.
• "Asenapine maleate". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.