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Fox Focus | Research
With Foundation
Support, New Drugs
Are Moving Closer
to Market
by MAGGIE KUHL
One of the most vexing aspects of Parkinson’s
disease — to patients, clinicians and
researchers — is its tremendous variability.
As everyone’s Parkinson’s disease experience
is different — with varied age of onset,
symptoms and rate of progression — so too
can be their response to medication. The
Michael J. Fox Foundation is working urgently
to support the development of a wider
range of treatment options for managing
Parkinson’s symptoms, in order to address
more of patients’ unmet medical needs.
Since 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) has approved 15 new
Parkinson’s therapies (see figure 1 on the
next page), including a new approval this past
April, and is scheduled to report its decision
on another this spring. This momentum
is unmatched in the history of Parkinson’s
drug development, and a heartening sign of
biopharmaceutical companies’ increasing
interest and investment in this field.
New Options Offer Relief
from “Off” Times
Neurocrine’s oral compound Ongentys
(opicapone), which was approved by the FDA
in April, and Sunovion’s thin-film formulation
of apomorphine (awaiting a decision in May)
help control symptoms during “off” times,
when the gold standard medication levodopa
(Sinemet) is not working well and Parkinson’s
symptoms return each day.
“A patient’s experience of ‘off’ times can be
gradual or sudden and severely limit their ability
to perform daily tasks. On top of the physical
limitations, the uncertainty around symptom
control can lower confidence and perpetuate
isolation,” said The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s
Vice President of Medical Communications,