Thursday, December 5, 2013

New Drug Shows Early Promise in Treating Parkinson's Psychosis

We know that, Pimavanserin (ACP-103) is a drug developed by Acadia Pharmaceuticals which acts as an inverse agonist on the serotonin receptorsubtype 5-HT2A, with 40x selectivity over 5-HT2C, and no significant affinity or activity at 5-HT2B or dopamine receptors. As of September 3 2009, pimavanserin has not met expectations for Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of Parkinson's disease psychosis, and is in Phase II trials for adjunctive treatment of schizophrenia alongside an antipsychotic medication. It is expected to improve the effectiveness and side effect profile of antipsychotics...

Now  a study published in the Nov. 1 online issue of The Lancet and funded by Acadia Pharmaceuticals, the makers of pimavanserin.
"There are no first-line approved treatments for psychosis in people with Parkinson's disease," said lead researcher Dr. Clive Ballard, a professor of age-related diseases at King's College, London.
"Existing antipsychotics are either ineffective or not tolerated. Pimavanserin is not yet licensed, but could potentially offer a change in the treatment of these distressing and impactful symptoms," he said.
An expert not involved with the study talked about the need for a medication alternative.
"The Parkinson's disease community has been waiting for a potentially new approach for the treatment of psychosis and hallucinations," said Dr. Michael Okun, national medical director of the National Parkinson Foundation.



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