Mov Disord: Subcutaneous injection of a new drug of levodopa to treat Parkinson's, how effective

ND0612 (NeuroDerm Ltd, Rehovot, Israel) is an investigative subcutaneous (SC) drug delivery system that provides minimally invasive, continuous infusion of liquid levodopa/carbidopa for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease with movement fluctuations (PD) patients
.

Previous studies have shown that ND0612 can provide a stable plasma levodopa concentration, significantly reduce the daily withdrawal time, and increase the start-up time without obvious dyskinesia
.

Werner Poewe and others of Medical University Innsbruck, Austria, explored the long-term safety and tolerability of ND0612 in 12 months of treatment, with particular attention to infusion site reactions (ISRs), which are usually related to SC administration
.

They included 214 enrolled patients, of whom (24-hour SC infusion: n = 90; 16-hour SC infusion: n = 124), and 120 (56%) completed 12 months of treatment
.

The main reasons for the suspension of the study were consent withdrawal (19.
6%) and adverse events (17.
3%)
.

After program revision and retraining, the suspension rate dropped from 49% to 29%
.

For PD patients treated with levodopa/carbidopa, system safety is typical
.

Most patients experienced reactions at the infusion site, especially nodules (30.
8%) and hematomas (25.
2%).
Most of these reactions were judged to be mild to moderate, and only 10.
3% of participants led to discontinuation of the drug
.

The important significance of this study lies in: The subcutaneous injection of levodopa/carbidopa continuous infusion of ND0612 is generally safe, and the typical infusion site reaction of SC administration is the main adverse event
.

Original Source:
Poewe W, Stocchi F, Arkadir D, et al.