BETTER TREATMENT PIPELINES
THE MICHAEL J. FOX FOUNDATION 2025 YEAR IN REVIEW directed therapies. These may be especially helpful for people with progressing Parkinson’ s who may not achieve symptom control with pills or who experience“ off” time, when Parkinson’ s symptoms— motor and / or nonmotor— return or worsen between medication doses.
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Onapgo uses a continuous, under-the-skin infusion to deliver apomorphine, a type of drug that looks and acts like dopamine— the brain chemical that affects movement and decreases in people with Parkinson’ s.
Vyalev uses a similar under-the-skin approach to deliver a continuous infusion of levodopa and carbidopa, which replaces lost dopamine.
Crexont is a pill that includes both immediate- and extended-release levodopa plus carbidopa in one pill to alleviate symptoms for longer with fewer doses than immediate-release levodopa / carbidopa.
Additional dopamine-directed therapies are on track for possible FDA decision soon. These include tavapadon, a once-daily drug( a newer form of a so-called“ dopamine agonist”) that activates the brain receptors that bind dopamine; and an extended-release therapy combining pramipexole( another dopamine agonist) and rasagiline( a drug that prevents the breakdown of dopamine in the brain).
Stem cell therapies that seek to replace dopamine cells lost in PD and provide another option for improving movement— a closely watched area of treatment for decades— increasingly show signs of potential benefits. In the spring, two studies published in the journal Nature reported promising early results. Trials so far involve just a handful of participants but offer the clearest picture yet of possible benefits for treating Parkinson’ s motor symptoms.
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