Brintellix superior to escitalopram in improving sexual functioning for MDD patients

Danish CSN drug specialist Lundbeck (LUN: CO) has presented results about sexual functioning from a head-to-head study of Brintellix (vortioxetine) versus escitalopram (the firm’s now off patent Cipralex) in patients with well treated major depressive disorder (MDD) experiencing treatment-emergent sexual dysfunction (TESD), at American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology annual meeting today.

Sexual dysfunction, induced by treatment affects the patient's quality of life and is a common reason people taking antidepressants may choose to be less compliant with their treatments and then potentially experience relapse of depressive symptoms. The results demonstrated that patients treated with Brintellix (n=169) experienced a statistically-significant improvement, with a mean treatment difference of 2.2 points (95% CI: 0.48-4.02) in the CSFQ-14 total score after eight weeks of treatment (P=0.013; MMRM) compared to escitalopram (n=179). The CSFQ-14 is a recognized clinical and research instrument identifying five dimensions of sexual functioning and yields scores for three phases of the sexual response cycle.

Prior to initiating the study medication, the patients were already in partial or full remission from their depression, and they maintained or slightly improved their depressive symptoms in both treatment groups after eight weeks, as measured by the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) total score and the Clinical Global Impression Severity and Improvement scales (CGI - S/I). The adverse event profile for Brintellix was similar to that seen in previous trials, with nausea, headache, and dizziness being the most common side effects observed.