Patricia Inácio, PhD,  science writer—

Ongentys (opicapone) has been approved in Japan as an oral, add-on daily treatment for Parkinson’s disease patients experiencing off periods while on a levodopa/carbidopa regimen. This decision adds Japan to the list of countries where Ongentys is available as an add-on treatment for Parkinson’s motor symptoms, including the U.S. and…

The University at Buffalo has received a $2.2 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to develop a new method for diagnosing Parkinson’s disease before the onset of clinical symptoms, according to a university press release. Called “Molecular Segregation of Parkinson’s Disease…

Equfina (safinamide) has been approved in South Korea as an add-on therapy to levodopa for Parkinson’s disease patients who experience “off” episodes, Eisai, which is marketing this medication in parts of Asia, announced. The approval makes South Korea the first country in Asia outside of Japan to sell…

Structural changes within alpha-synuclein can make this protein more prone to clumping — a common feature of Parkinson’s — a research group found, a discovery that might lead to ways of stopping this disease in its early stages. The study, “Extent of N-terminus exposure of monomeric alpha-synuclein…

Manus Neurodynamica, a medical technology company, has raised £750,000 in a financing round to support the rollout of NeuroMotor Pen, a digital pen with a patented sensor technology to help diagnose at early stages movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease. The funding, worth about $950,000, will also be used to…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has agreed to review Adamas Pharmaceutical’s application asking that oral Gocovri (amantadine) also be approved to treat off episodes in Parkinson’s disease patients using levodopa. An FDA decision on  the company’s supplemental new drug application (sNDA) is expected by Feb. 1, 2021.

People carrying gene variants that lower leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) levels — an enzyme whose mutated form is one of the most common genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease — live as long as those without such variants, and show no related lung, liver or kidney damage, results of a large genetic study…

Seelos Therapeutics announced it is beginning, earlier than expected, a preclinical study into its investigational gene therapy candidate for Parkinson’s disease called SLS-004. The exact nature of this early research work was not detailed in a press release. Nerve cell damage in Parkinson’s is caused by the buildup of toxic forms…

Current or past tobacco smokers are at lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease than lifelong non-smokers, a long-term study of doctors in the U.K. reports. How smoking might protect a person against Parkinson’s, however, remains poorly understood. The many known health risks of tobacco smoking also far exceed “any protective effect,”…

GB Sciences has been granted a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) covering the use of its proprietary cannabinoid-containing complex mixtures for treating Parkinson’s disease, the company announced. GB Sciences is creating a pipeline of new medicines based on cannabinoids, the pharmacologically active compounds that…