New Trial: Tavapadon Helps Delay Start of Levodopa

Abbvie has a new experimental oral drug called tavapadon. Phase 3 of the trial has just been completed and the results are exciting.

Levodopa is the gold standard medication for Parkinson's Disease. However, most people end up needing to gradually increase their dosage. This can lead to an increased risk of side effects. This sometimes also makes people delay or avoid taking levodopa, which can mean a lower quality of life.

The American Academy of Neurology had an annual meeting last week in Chicago where the results of the study were shared. This trial was a year long study and it found that people taking the oral drug with early PD did not need to start levodopa. It was also shown that people who were already taking levodopa did not need to increase their dose. In fact, 81%-88% of people did not change their dosage during the study. Even more promising, in those who did change there medication more people decreased their medications rather than increasing it!

Tavapadon aims to activate the receptors which dopamine typically binds to. In theory, this allows the dopamine pathways to be signaled without increasing dopamine levels, leading to less negative side effects. Tavapadon is also designed to bind to the D1 receptors which tend to cluster in areas in the brain that support movement.

“Tavapadon has been developed so it can be used as initial symptomatic therapy in early PD, and as an adjunctive medication to levodopa in later stages of PD.” - Hubert H. Fernandez, MD, a professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University

Exciting steps forward in the pursuit to help people with PD live well!

Source:

https://parkinsonsnewstoday.com/news/aan-2026-tavapadon-helps-delay-levodopa-start-early-parkinsons/