Armodafinil: An Antidepressant For Bipolar I Depression
At a recent scientific meeting, researcher Joe Calabrese reported that armodafinil (Neuvigil), a drug that is FDA-approved for the treatment of narcolepsy, performed significantly better than placebo at producing antidepressant effects in bipolar depression when added to treatment with mood stabilizers. At a dose of 150mg, the drug behaved less like a psychomotor stimulant and more like a traditional antidepressant in that the antidepressant effects were delayed in onset. Stimulants have a rapid onset of action. Armodafinil was well-tolerated, not seeming to produce weight gain or switches into mania.
Editor’s Note: At the moment, quetiapine (Seroquel) is the only FDA-approved monotherapy for the treatment of bipolar depression. Lurasidone (Latuda) may soon be approved, as we reported in BNN Volume 16, Issue 2 from 2013. It now looks as though armodafinil could become the third approved agent for bipolar depression.
Quetiapine has efficacy in preventing depressive and manic recurrences both alone in monotherapy and in combination therapy with lithium or valproate. So far only the combination therapy is FDA-approved for preventative purposes. The data on the long-term effects of armodafinil and lurasidone are eagerly awaited, as they are a critical component of the treatment of bipolar depression.
