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Teva Handok gains more indications for Parkinson’s disease treatment
  • By Lee Han-soo
  • Published 2018.11.20 14:54
  • Updated 2018.11.20 14:54
  • comments 0

Teva Handok and Lundbeck Korea said Tuesday its Parkinson’s disease therapy Azilect (ingredient: rasagiline) gained further indication from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, as an adjuvant therapy dopamine agonists to treat idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, which causes various motor symptoms due to a loss of neurons that produce a chemical messenger in the brain called dopamine. When dopamine levels decrease, it causes abnormal brain activity, leading to symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The disease is one of the three geriatric diseases along with dementia and stroke.

The ministry had approved Azilect for a monotherapy on patients with early-stage Parkinson’s disease and another for a combination with a levodopa-containing drug for patients with motor fluctuations.

The company said that with the addition of the new indication, the ministry changed the usage and dosage requirements of the drug.

From now on, the drug’s label will also say that patients, who use the drug as adjuvant therapy dopamine agonists to treat idiopathic Parkinson's disease, can take 1mg per day. The convenience of taking the medication regardless of diet will remain the same.

Previously, the label allowed the 1mg per day dosage only for patients using the drug as monotherapy for early-stage Parkinson’s disease or those with motor fluctuations using it as a combination with levodopa-containing medications.

Azilect, launched in July 2014, is a second-generation, non-irreversible treatment for Parkinson's disease, which acts as a monoamine oxidase type B (MAO-B) inhibitor. Inhibition of endogenous and exogenous dopamine metabolism by MAO-B enzymes in neurons increases the concentration of dopamine in the brain. The selective enhancement of dopamine activity has shown to be effective in idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

corea022@docdocdoc.co.kr

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