aripiprazole
Antipsychotic • Brands: ABILIFY
Last reviewed: 2025-12-28
General information
- Class: Antipsychotic
- Common US brands: ABILIFY
- Long-acting injectable formulation available.
- Therapeutic drug monitoring not routinely recommended; reference range 120–270 ng/mL.
- Last reviewed: 2025-12-28
Dosing & forms
- Forms/strengths: —
- Frequency: —
- Food: —
- Typical range: —
Mechanism (brief)
Dopamine D2/D3 partial agonist with 5-HT1A partial agonism and 5-HT2A antagonism, stabilizing dopaminergic tone with comparatively low metabolic and EPS burden.
Metabolism & Half‑life
- Metabolism: CYP2D6, CYP3A4
- Half‑life: Steady-state mean 75 h; Steady-state range 75–146 h
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM)
Recommended: No
Reference range: 120–270 ng/mL
Long‑acting injectable (LAI)
Aripiprazole monohydrate
- Interval
- Monthly (q4wk)
- Oral overlap
- Yes — typically 14 days
- Site
- Deltoid or gluteal
Aripiprazole lauroxil
- Interval
- q4–8wk (varies by strength)
- Oral overlap
- Yes — typically 21 days (unless using Initio loading)
- Site
- Deltoid or gluteal
Monitoring highlights
- —
Sources
- ABILIFY (aripiprazole) tablets and injection — Prescribing Information — DailyMed (2025)
- Consensus Guidelines for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Neuropsychopharmacology: Update 2017 — Pharmacopsychiatry (2018)
- Aripiprazole maintenance study in recently manic bipolar I patients — Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (2006)
- Safety of once-monthly aripiprazole initiation in schizophrenia — Current Medical Research and Opinion (2013)
- Assessing the metabolic impact of aripiprazole versus risperidone in the treatment of schizophrenia: a randomized double-blind controlled clinical trial — BMC Psychiatry (2025)
- The effect of switching antipsychotics to aripiprazole versus paliperidone on weight/cardiometabolic parameters: 18-month follow-up findings from the European Long-acting Antipsychotics in Schizophrenia Trial (EULAST) — Eur Neuropsychopharmacol (2026)