The need for cost-effective choices to treat patients with bipolar 1 disorders including asenapine

Background: Bipolar 1 disorders (BPD) are a chronic disorder with prevalence rates of up to 2.6% of the adult population or higher and appreciable direct and indirect costs. As a result, these are a concern to health authorities especially given the low age of onset. Consequently, there is a need to treat BPD patients well and improve their quality-of-life. Pharmacotherapy includes mood stabilizers and atypical antipsychotics (AAPs). AAPs have different mechanisms of action and side-effects, so treatment needs to be tailored. Asenapine in clinical trials is as effective as olanzapine, with less metabolic side-effects. Methods: Chitnis and colleagues assessed the cost-effectiveness of asenapine among patients in healthcare databases. Results and Conclusion: They showed in routine care that asenapine also reduces hospital and emergency room admissions, making it cost neutral in BPD, which is of interest to health authorities and clinicians.