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CompletedNCT01248195OPTIMISEUpdated May 15, 2018

Optimization of Treatment and Management of Schizophrenia in Europe

A Phase 4 interventional study of Amisulpride open label and 6-week amisulpride double blind treatment in Schizophrenia, Schizophreniform Disorder and Schizoaffective Disorder, sponsored by Rene Kahn. Completed at 26 sites in 16 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 40 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-05-15.

Sponsored by Rene Kahn · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
479
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 40 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

The purpose of the study is optimising current treatments in schizophrenia and explore novel therapeutic options for schizophrenia. The study intends to both address basic, but so far unanswered, questions in the treatment of schizophrenia and develop new interventions. It is expected that the project will lead to evidence that is directly applicable to treatment guidelines, and will identify potential mechanisms for new drug development.

Read the detailed description

Despite nearly fifty years of pharmacological and psychosocial research, the overall prognosis of schizophrenia has improved only marginally. While the efficacy of most antipsychotic medication is generally uncontested, their overall functional impact has been modest. In order to improve this unsatisfactory result, this study aims to optimize current treatments in schizophrenia and explore novel therapeutic options for schizophrenia. The study comprises a medication intervention component, a psychosocial intervention component, a biological predictor component and an MRI component. MRI assessments are performed at baseline, and used to determine whether potential organic causes for psychotic symptoms are present, and to test prospective value of these assessments for subsequent treatment response. MRI assessments of healthy volunteers will be included to test for deviations in patients' assessments; these volunteers will not participate in any other protocol procedure. The medication intervention component comprises a first 4-week phase of amisulpride treatment. Non-responders will subsequently be randomised to a 6-week double blind phase on either amisulpride or olanzapine. Patients who classify as non-responders at the end of this phase, a 12-week open label treatment with clozapine is initiated. Patients who classify as a responder in phase I, II or III, are drop outs or who are non-responders at the end of phase III flow to the psychosocial intervention component of the study. During this part, several interventions are tested, aimed to increase treatment compliance and keep patients on the medication to which they've responded well. Through the biological predictor component, it is determined whether glutamatergic markers predict response to first and second line treatments, and if an empirical combination of pharmacogenetic, proteomics- and metabolomic markers can provide clinical valuable predictive value.

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Conditions studied

  • Schizophrenia
  • Schizophreniform Disorder
  • Schizoaffective Disorder

Keywords

  • Schizophrenia
  • Schizophreniform disorder
  • Schizoaffective disorder
  • Imaging
  • Prognosis
  • Treatment guidelines
  • Pharmacogenetics
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In context

Schizophrenia

3,471 studies on the registry are indexed under Schizophrenia; 472 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 479 is above the median of 70 across 2,872 interventional studies indexed under Schizophrenia.

Browse Schizophrenia studies →

Lead sponsor

Rene Kahn is the lead sponsor of 3 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 40 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  1. Diagnosis of schizophrenia as defined by DSM-IV-R as determined by the M.I.N.I.plus
  2. Age 18 or older.
  3. The first psychosis occurred at least one year and no more than 7 years ago.*
  4. If patients are using an antipsychotic drug, a medication switch is currently under consideration.
  5. Capable of providing written informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Intolerance / hypersensitivity to one of the drugs (including active substances, metabolites and excipients) in this study including oral risperidone, paliperidone and aripiprazole and/or hypersensitivity to risperidone.
  2. Pregnancy or lactation.
  3. Patients who are currently using clozapine.
  4. Patients who do not fully comprehend the purpose or are not competent to make a rational decision whether or not to participate.
  5. Patients with a documented history of non-response and/or intolerance to any of the study medications and/or a documented history of non-response to a treatment with one of the study drugs of at least 6 weeks within the registered dose range.
  6. Forensic patients.
  7. Patients who have been treated with an investigational drug within 30 days prior to screening.
  8. Simultaneous participation in another intervention study (neither medication or psychosocial intervention).
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Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
479 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Other
    Phase I: 1 arm 'amisulpride open label'

    For 4 weeks, all patients will be treated with amisulpride open label.

    Drug: Amisulpride open label

  • Active comparator
    Phase II: 'amisulpride double blind'

    Patients who do not meet remission criteria during phase I (4 weeks open label amisulpride), flow to phase II where they are randomised to 1 of 2 6-week double blind treatment arms, one of which is 'amisulpride double blind'

    Drug: 6-week amisulpride double blind treatment

  • Active comparator
    Phase II 'olanzapine double blind'

    Patients who do not meet remission criteria during phase I (4 weeks open label amisulpride), flow to phase II where they are randomised to 1 of 2 6-week double blind treatment arms, one of which is 'olanzapine double blind'

    Drug: 6-week olanzapine double blind treatment

  • Other
    Phase III: 1 arm 'clozapine open label'

    Patients who do not meet remission criteria during phase II (6-week double blind amisulpride vs olanzapine), flow to phase III, where only 1 arm is available: 'clozapine open label'

    Drug: 12-week clozapine open-label treatment

  • Experimental
    Psychosocial intervention

    Patients who meet remission criteria during any of the phases of the medication component, patients who drop out of the medication component and patients who did not meet remission criteria at the end of the medication component, will flow to the psychosocial intervention component, where they are randomised to 1 of 2 arms, one of which is the 'Psychosocial Intervention' arm.

    Behavioral: Psychosocial intervention

  • No intervention
    Psychosocial Intervention phase: 'TAU'

    Patients who meet remission criteria during any of the phases of the medication component, patients who drop out of the medication component and patients who did not meet remission criteria at the end of the medication component, will flow to the psychosocial intervention component, where they are randomised to 1 of 2 arms, one of which is the 'Treatment as usual' arm.

Interventions

  • DrugAmisulpride open label

    4-week open label amisulpride treatment

  • Drug6-week amisulpride double blind treatment

    6-week amisulpride double blind treatment

  • Drug6-week olanzapine double blind treatment

    6-week olanzapine double blind treatment

  • Drug12-week clozapine open-label treatment

    12-week clozapine open-label treatment

  • BehavioralPsychosocial intervention

    Psychosocial intervention

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. PANSS

    Study consists of multiple components, each with their own objectives. For this (medication) component: number of patients in remission, based on PANSS scores (criteria of Andreasen et al.; 2005) after 4 weeks open label amisulpride, after 6 weeks double blind amisulpride or olanzapine and after 12 weeks of open label clozapine.

    Time frame: Jan 2016

  2. Sellwood rating scale

    Psychosocial intervention component, objective A: drug adherence rates as a function of (standardized self report and) Sellwood rating scales after 12 and 52 weeks.

    Time frame: Jan 2016

  3. Biological profile

    Biological predictors component, objective A: drug response (remission vs non-remission) as a function of biological profile, after 4 weeks, 10 weeks and 22 weeks (after each medication phase).

    Time frame: jan 2016

  4. MRS measures

    Biological predictors component, objective B: using MRS scans, differences between responders and non-responders in regional glutamate levels a) at baseline and b) between baseline and after one month of treatment with amisulpiride.

    Time frame: jan 2016

  5. SOFAS global functioning

    Psychosocial intervention component, objective B: drug adherence rates as a function of standardized global functioning (SOFAS score after 1 year) following psychosocial intervention vs treatment as usual.

    Time frame: jan 2016

  6. MRI assessments

    MRI component objective: the percentage of first episode patients that show radiological abnormalities suggestive of neurological disorders which may explain the occurrence of psychotic symptoms - measurement at baseline only.

    Time frame: jan 2016

Secondary outcomes

  1. All cause treatment discontinuation

    The different components of the study have their own secondary objectives: Medication component has multiple secondary objectives, most important one is all-cause treatment discontinuation after 4 weeks, 10 weeks and 22 weeks. Number and reason for premature discontinuations (treatment discontinuation) of the amisulpride and the olanzapine group will be compared (after 10 weeks).

    Time frame: jan 2016

  2. All cause discontinuation

    Psychosocial intervention component has multiple secondary objectives, most important one is all-cause treatment discontinuation between treatment groups after 12 and 52 weeks.

    Time frame: jan 2016

  3. Biological markers

    Biological predictors component has multiple secondary objectives, most important one is the ability of biological markers to predict response to antipsychotic and treatment tolerability in schizophrenia, after 4, 10 and 22 weeks.

    Time frame: jan 2016

  4. MRI assessments

    The ability of MRI to predict response to antipsychotic treatment in schizophrenia, after 4, 10 and 22 weeks.

    Time frame: jan 2016

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Study locations

26 sites
  • Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre
    Melbourne, 3053, Australia
  • Department of Biological Psychiatry, Innsbruck University Clinics
    Innsbruck, A-6020, Austria
  • Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven)
    Leuven, B - 3070, Belgium
  • University Specialised Hospital for Active Treatment in Neurology and Psychiatry "St. Naum"
    Sofia, 1113, Bulgaria
  • Psychiatrické centrum Praha
    Prague, Ustavni 91 181 03 Praha 8-Bohnice, Czechia
  • Psychiatrická klinika LF UK, Fakultní nemocnice
    Hradec Králové, CZ - 500 05, Czechia
  • Center for Neuropsychiatric Research
    Glostrup, DK-2600, Denmark
  • Institut National de la Santé et de la Reserche Médicale (INSERM)
    Créteil Cedex, 94010, France
  • Martin-Luther-University (MLU) of Halle-Wittenberg
    Halle, 06097, Germany
  • Deprtment of Psychiatry, University of Heidelberg
    Mannheim, J 5, D-68159, Germany
  • Ludwig-Maximilians University München
    München, 80336, Germany
  • Technische Universität München (TUM)
    München, 81675, Germany
  • Sheba Medical Centre Department of Psychiatry
    Tel Hashomer, 52621, Israel
  • Department of Psychiatry University of Naples
    Naples, 80138, Italy
  • University Medical Center Utrecht
    Utrecht, 3584 CX, Netherlands
  • Department of Adult Psychiatry, University of Medical Sciences
    Poznan, 60-572, Poland
  • Obregia Psychiatric Hospital
    Bucuresti, 7000, Romania
  • Hospital Clinic i Provincial
    Barcelona, 08036 Barcelona, Spain
  • Servicio Madrileño de Salud (SERMAS)
    Madrid, 28007, Spain
  • Hospital Clínico San Carlos
    Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
  • Instituto de Investigación Hospital 12 de Octubre
    Madrid, 28041 Madrid, Spain
  • Universidad de Oviedo
    Oviedo, 33011 Oviedo, Spain
  • Clienia Schlössli AG, Privatklinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie
    Oetwil am See, CH-8618, Switzerland
  • King's College London, Departments of Psychological Medicine, Psychiatry & Cognitive Neuroscience
    London, SE5 8AF, United Kingdom
  • West London Mental Health Trust
    London, W12 0NN, United Kingdom
  • University of Manchester
    Manchester, M13 9PL, United Kingdom
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Fraguas D, Diaz-Caneja CM, Pina-Camacho L, Winter van Rossum I, Baandrup L, Sommer IE, Glenthoj B, Kahn RS, Leucht S, Arango C. The role of depression in the prediction of a "late" remission in first-episode psychosis: An analysis of the OPTiMiSE study. Schizophr Res. 2021 May;231:100-107. doi: 10.1016/j.schres.2021.03.010. Epub 2021 Apr 7. PubMed 33838518 ↗
  • Pollak TA, Vincent A, Iyegbe C, Coutinho E, Jacobson L, Rujescu D, Stone J, Jezequel J, Rogemond V, Jamain S, Groc L, David A, Egerton A, Kahn RS, Honnorat J, Dazzan P, Leboyer M, McGuire P. Relationship Between Serum NMDA Receptor Antibodies and Response to Antipsychotic Treatment in First-Episode Psychosis. Biol Psychiatry. 2021 Jul 1;90(1):9-15. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.11.014. Epub 2020 Nov 24. Erratum In: Biol Psychiatry. 2021 Jul 1;90(1):69. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.04.001. PubMed 33536130 ↗
  • Kahn RS, Winter van Rossum I, Leucht S, McGuire P, Lewis SW, Leboyer M, Arango C, Dazzan P, Drake R, Heres S, Diaz-Caneja CM, Rujescu D, Weiser M, Galderisi S, Glenthoj B, Eijkemans MJC, Fleischhacker WW, Kapur S, Sommer IE; OPTiMiSE study group. Amisulpride and olanzapine followed by open-label treatment with clozapine in first-episode schizophrenia and schizophreniform disorder (OPTiMiSE): a three-phase switching study. Lancet Psychiatry. 2018 Oct;5(10):797-807. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30252-9. Epub 2018 Aug 13. PubMed 30115598 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 15, 2018, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01248195
Lead sponsor
Rene Kahn
Collaborators
King's College London, Technical University of Munich, University of Manchester, Ludwig-Maximilians - University of Munich
Responsible party
Rene Kahn (MD PhD, UMC Utrecht) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Nov 25, 2010
Start date
May 2011
Primary completion
Apr 2016
Completion
Apr 2016
Last update
May 15, 2018

Study contacts

René Kahn, MD, PhD
principal investigator · University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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