Valbenazine in the Treatment of Tardive Dyskinesia

Abstract

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a bothersome and – at times, disabling – movement disorder associated with exposure to dopamine receptor antagonist medications. On 11 April 2017, valbenazine became the first US FDA-approved medication indicated for the treatment of TD. Valbenazine is a vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) inhibitor that decreases the abnormal movements of TD. The FDA considered valbenazine a breakthrough therapy in 2014 given its underlying mechanism and its importance in addressing an unmet need, as there were no available FDA-approved medications indicated for TD. The advantages of valbenazine include once-daily dosing and a rapid onset of effect within 2 weeks of treatment initiation.

Keywords: :

• tardive dyskinesia
• valbenazine
• VMAT2 inhibitor

Financial & competing interests disclosure

C Comella serves on the editorial board of Clinical Neuropharmacology, Sleep Medicine and Continuum. She receives research support from the NIH R01NS074343, U54NS065701, Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, Merz Pharmaceuticals, Revance Therapeutics, Retrophin and Acorda Therapeutics. She receives compensation/honoraria for services as a consultant or an advisory committee member from: Acorda Therapeutics; Allergan, Inc.; Lundbeck Ltd.; Medtronic Inc.; Merz Pharmaceuticals; Acadia Pharmaceuticals; Jazz Pharmaceuticals; Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.; and Revance Therapeutics. She receives royalties from Wolters Kluwer, Cambridge. She receives research support from the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Company review

In addition to the peer-review process, with the author’s consent, the manufacturer of the product discussed in this article was given the opportunity to review the manuscript for factual accuracy. Changes were made by the author at their discretion and based on scientific or editorial merit only. The author maintained full control over the manuscript, including content, wording and conclusion.