The Food and Drug Administration has approved lurasidone HCI (Latuda) for treating bipolar I depression in children and adolescents, according to a March 6 statement from the drug’s manufacturer.
“We know that children who have been diagnosed with bipolar depression can be at risk for poor school performance and impairments in social functioning,” said Robert L. Findling, MD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, in the statement.
Approval of the atypical antipsychotic is based on results of a 6-week, randomized placebo-controlled phase 3 study of 347 children and adolescents diagnosed with bipolar I depression. Patients received either 20-80 mg/day of lurasidone or placebo.