Cariprazine (RGH-188) is a novel antipsychotic drug that exerts partial agonism 
of dopamine D2/D3 receptors with preferential binding to D3 receptor, antagonism 
of 5HT2B receptors and partial agonism of 5HT1A. Currently, cariprazine is in 
late-stage clinical development (phase III clinical trials) in patients with 
schizophrenia (S) and in patients with bipolar disorder (BD), as well as an 
adjunctive treatment in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and 
drug-resistant MDD. Cariprazine has completed phase III trials for the acute 
treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar mania, phase II trials for the bipolar 
depression and MDD whilst it is undergoing phase III trials as an adjunct to 
antidepressants. The present review aims at proving a comprehensive summary of 
the current evidence on the safety, tolerability and efficacy of cariprazine in 
the treatment of schizophrenia, BD (manic/mixed/ depressive episode) and MDD. A 
systematic search was conducted on PubMed/Medline/ Scopus and the database on 
Clinical Trials from inception until April 2015 by typing a set of specified 
keywords. Available evidence seems to support cariprazine efficacy in the 
treatment of cognitive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Preliminary 
findings suggest its antimanic activity whilst it is still under investigation 
its efficacy in the treatment of bipolar depression and MDD. Furthermore, the 
available data seems not to allow judgements about its antipsychotic potential 
in comparison with currently prescribed antipsychotics. Further studies should 
be carried out to better investigate its pharmacodynamic and clinical potential, 
particularly as alternative to current antipsychotic drugs.