News

Ketamine Studied for Relief of Levodopa-associated Involuntary Movements

A Phase 1 trial will test the potential of ketamine — an analgesic medicine used for depression and pain — at reducing the uncontrollable, jerky movements that arise in Parkinson’s disease patients after long-term treatment with levopoda. Levodopa, probably the most common treatment for Parkinson’s disease, is effective at improving the stiffness…

Epilepsy Therapy Shows Neuroprotective Effects at Low Doses in Early Animal Study

An anticonvulsant medication called methsuximide may be a new approach for treating a neurodegenerative diseases that include Parkinson’s, because it shows a potential to be neuroprotective at low doses, early research reports. Specifically, this epilepsy treatment’s active molecule — α-methyl-α-phenylsuccinimide — eased movement difficulties, extended lifespans, and showed itself to…

Parkinson’s Gene Therapy Now in Phase 2 Trial, VY-AADC, Continues to Show Motor Benefits, Voyager Says

Voyager Therapeutics announced likely plans to request approval of VY-AADC as a Parkinson’s gene therapy, based on feedback it received from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and eventual outcomes of a newly opened Phase 2 trial. The company also reported that its Phase 1 trial of VY-AADC showed improvements in patients’ motor…