A double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study of vortioxetine in the treatment of binge‐eating disorder

Background Binge-eating disorder (BED) is associated with impaired quality of life and has a number of untoward public health associations. There are few established pharmacological treatments for BED, and available options are not suitable for all individuals. Vortioxetine is a recently developed pharmacological agent with effects on the serotonergic but also other neurochemical systems, which has yet to be evaluated in this context. Method Eighty adults with BED were recruited for a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Participants received 12-week treatment with vortioxetine (10 mg/day for 1 week, then increasing to 20 mg/day) or placebo in a parallel design. The primary efficacy outcome measures were binge-eating frequency and weight. Safety data were collected. Effects of active versus placebo treatment were characterized using linear repeated measures models. Results Both vortioxetine and placebo treatment were associated with significant reductions in binge-eating frequency. Vortioxetine did not differentiate significantly from placebo on any efficacy measure. Frequency of adverse events did not differ between groups. Discussion Vortioxetine was not more effective than placebo in the treatment of BED. The ability to detect pharmacological treatment benefit may have been hindered by the relatively high placebo response and drop out. Future work should seek to better understand and predict placebo response in BED, with a view to more targeted treatment interventions and, potentially, sample enrichment.