Levodopa News and Research

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Opicapone simplifies levodopa-related motor fluctuation treatment

Once-daily opicapone is effective for the treatment of end-of-dose motor fluctuations in patients receiving levodopa for Parkinson’s disease, phase III study findings show.

23 Dec 2015

Impax's NUMIENT granted EC marketing authorization for symptomatic treatment of adult patients with Parkinson's disease

Impax Laboratories, Inc. today announced that the European Commission has granted marketing authorization for NUMIENT (Levodopa and Carbidopa), a modified-release oral capsule formulation for the symptomatic treatment of adult patients with Parkinson's disease.

25 Nov 2015

SynAgile announces positive results from Phase 2a trial of continuous intraoral LD/CD therapy

SynAgile Corporation, a privately held pharmaceutical company that develops and commercializes drug delivery systems using its proprietary OraFuse intraoral technology platform, today announced positive results from a proof-of-concept, Phase 2a, open-label clinical trial of continuous intraoral administration of levodopa-carbidopa (LD/CD).

8 Oct 2015

Olfactory function may inform Parkinson’s prognosis

Olfactory function is preserved in about a quarter of patients with Parkinson’s disease, and may be predictive of disease course, say researchers.

18 Sep 2015

Study reveals why long-term use of L-DOPA leads to dyskinesia

Researchers have discovered why long-term use of L-DOPA (levodopa), the most effective treatment for Parkinson's disease, commonly leads to a movement problem called dyskinesia, a side effect that can be as debilitating as Parkinson's disease itself.

11 Sep 2015

University of Maryland Medicine offers MRI-guided focused ultrasound treatment to Parkinson's patients

University of Maryland Medicine (the University of Maryland Medical Center and the University of Maryland School of Medicine) and its Center for Metabolic Imaging and Image-Guided Therapeutics (CMIT) has begun to use MRI-guided focused ultrasound on a deep structure within the brain related to Parkinson's disease - the globus pallidus.

2 Sep 2015

IQWiG finds no added benefit for safinamide in Parkinson disease

Safinamide (trade name: Xadago) has been available since February 2015 as add-on therapy for the treatment of mid- to late-stage Parkinson disease in adults. In combination with levodopa alone or together with other Parkinson disease medicinal products, this monoamine oxidase (MAO-B) inhibitor is used to help restore dopamine levels in the brain.

20 Aug 2015

Putaminal serotonergic innervation flags levodopa-induced dyskinesia risk

Increased serotonergic fibre innervation relative to dopaminergic fibre availability may be a potential marker of disease progression in Parkinson’s disease patients and a possible warning of levodopa-induced dyskinesia, indicates an in vivo imaging study.

17 Aug 2015

Low-dose lithium lowers involuntary motor movements in mouse model of Parkinson's disease

Low-dose lithium reduced involuntary motor movements - the troubling side effect of the medication most commonly used to treat Parkinson's disease (PD) - in a mouse model of the condition that is diagnosed in about 60,000 Americans each year. The third in a series of studies from the Andersen lab involving PD and low-dose lithium, the results add to mounting evidence that low-doses of the psychotropic drug could benefit patients suffering from the incurable, degenerative condition.

28 Jul 2015

Severe dyskinesias rare in community Parkinson’s cohort

Motor fluctuations and dyskinesias affect about a third of community-based patients with Parkinson’s disease, but dyskinesias are rarely severe enough to warrant a change of treatment, report researchers.

15 Jul 2015

Pharma Two B reports positive results from P2B001 Phase IIb study for treatment of early stage PD

Pharma Two B Ltd., a privately held company developing innovative therapeutics based on previously approved drugs, announced today the successful results of the company's Phase IIb pivotal study of P2B001 for the treatment of early stage Parkinson's Disease (PD).

30 Jun 2015

Health Canada informs Canadians that eight unauthorized health products were seized from Better Bodies Supplements

Health Canada is informing Canadians that eight unauthorized health products (listed in the table below) were seized from Better Bodies Supplements, 118 Main Street North, in Airdrie, Alta.

27 Jun 2015

Clinical studies confirm safety, efficacy of opicapone in Parkinson’s disease patients

BIAL is presenting 11 research posters at the 19th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders (June 14–15, San Diego, CA). These evaluate the safety and efficacy of opicapone (BIA 9-1067), a novel once-daily catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor for use as adjunctive therapy in levodopa-treated Parkinson’s disease patients with end of dose motor fluctuations.

15 Jun 2015

Promising results for multi-source DBS in Parkinson’s disease

Deep-brain stimulation targeting the subthalamic nucleus with a multiple-source constant-current device effectively suppresses motor symptoms in patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, report researchers.

12 Jun 2015

New treatment shows promise in easing symptoms of Parkinson's disease

To date, a cure for Parkinson's disease remains elusive for the more than 50,000 Americans diagnosed yearly, despite decades of intensive study. But a newly approved treatment that might help ease the symptoms of Parkinson's has shown remarkable promise.

22 Apr 2015

Bilirubin levels raised in newly diagnosed Parkinson’s disease

Bilirubin levels are upregulated in patients with early Parkinson’s disease and are associated with disease progression at 2 years, a study shows.

7 Apr 2015

Creatine monohydrate disappoints in Parkinson’s disease

Creatine monohydrate fails to live up to its early promise in patients with Parkinson’s disease, show the results of the Long-term Study 1.

13 Mar 2015

Enrollment completed in Pharma Two B's P2B001 Phase IIb study for Parkinson's disease treatment

Pharma Two B announced today that enrollment has been completed in the company's Phase IIb study of P2B001 for the treatment of early stage Parkinson's disease. One hundred and forty-nine patients enrolled in the study conducted at 29 clinical sites throughout the US and Israel.

4 Mar 2015

Perceived cost affects placebo response in Parkinson’s disease

Patients with Parkinson’s disease may gain a greater benefit from a placebo treatment if they believe it to be expensive, research suggests.

27 Feb 2015

Study: Levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel improves quality of life in advanced PD patients

Although levodopa remains the "gold standard" to effectively control motor deficits in the treatment of early stage Parkinson's disease (PD), it loses effectiveness as the disease progresses. After four to six years of treatment with oral medications for Parkinson's disease, about 40% of patients experience lack of muscle control (dyskinesias), end-of-dose wearing off, and fluctuations in "On/Off" states.