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Digital Therapeutic Eases Experiential Negative Symptoms in Patients with Schizophrenia
A beta version of a prescription digital therapeutic significantly reduced experiential negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia, according to a poster presentation at Psych Congress.
“Negative symptoms are key drivers of the burden associated with schizophrenia. Currently, no pharmacotherapies are US Food and Drug Administration-approved for treatment of experiential negative symptoms,” wrote first author Brendan Hare, PhD, of Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc., and coauthors. “Digital therapeutics may represent a resource for evidence-based care given ubiquitous smartphone ownership.”
The exploratory study investigated the efficacy of, and patient engagement with, an abbreviated version of a prescription digital therapeutical called CT-155 in 50 adults with schizophrenia on a stable antipsychotic who scored 30 or less on the Motivation and Pleasure Self-Report (MAP-SR) scale. Over 7 weeks, participants had on-demand access to CT-155, which targets experiential negative symptoms.
Of the 50 participants enrolled, 43 completed the study, the abstract reported. Eighty percent were male, 58% were black or African-American, and 64% were without a college education.
Participants completed a median four of the 4-step goals and 18 of 21 therapeutic lessons, according to the abstract. Among participants who completed at least one goal, 70% completed four or more goals.
Patient scores on the Clinical Assessment Interview for Negative Symptoms-MAP scale decreased significantly by the end of the study. Researchers reported a mean score of 20.2 among patients at baseline compared with 16.8 after 7 weeks of CT-155 access.
Participants reported a total three adverse events, none of which were serious or related to use of the digital therapeutic.
“In patients living with experiential negative symptoms of schizophrenia, use of the beta version of CT-155 significantly reduced experiential negative symptoms,” the authors wrote. “The observed clinical efficacy alongside benign safety profile encourage further clinical development.”
Boehringer Ingelheim and Click Therapeutics sponsored the study.
Reference
Hare B, et al. Efficacy and engagement with a digital therapeutic in patients with experiential negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Poster presented at Psych Congress; September 6-10, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee.
