The Parkinson’s disease therapy entacapone may disrupt the balance of microbes in the gut by starving them of iron, a study in healthy human fecal samples suggests. Supplementing patients with iron could prevent entacapone’s gastrointestinal side effects, but more research is needed to fully understand how the medication affects…

Alembic Pharmaceuticals has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its generic version of entacapone as an add-on therapy for treating end-of-dose “wearing off” in Parkinson’s disease, the company announced. These entacapone tablets are “therapeutically equivalent” to Comtan and treat the motor…

Intrance Medical Systems has raised $8 million to support a planned U.S. clinical trial of its fixed-dose combination of levodopa, carbidopa, and entacapone in advanced Parkinson’s disease patients. The combo therapy, originally developed by Lobsor Pharmaceuticals and sold under the name Lecigon in Nordic countries —  Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their…

STADA Arzneimittel has announced the acquisition of Sweden-based Lobsor Pharmaceuticals, gaining the rights to its triple-combination therapy of levodopa, carbidopa, and entacapone, delivered via modern pump technology, as a treatment for patients with late-stage Parkinson’s disease. The triple-combo treatment has already been approved in most…

Oral Ongentys (opicapone) as a daily add-on treatment shortened overnight “off” periods and eased dyskinesia during “on” periods in people with Parkinson’s disease using levodopa, new analyses of Phase 3 clinical trial data show. Long-term use was also seen to lower patients’ average daily levodopa dose without worsening symptoms…

Scientists have developed a new system that can provide a controlled and sustained release of parkinsonian medications, thus enabling better management of Parkinson’s disease. The mechanisms behind this delivery system were described in the study, “Multi-Drug-Loaded Microcapsules with Controlled Release for Management of Parkinson’s Disease,” published in the…

Stalevo (levodopa, carbidopa, and entacapone combination therapy) may be more effective but seems to be associated with more side effects than other medications to treat early Parkinson’s disease, researchers report. The study, “Levodopa/carbidopa/entacapone for the treatment of early Parkinson’s disease: a meta-analysis,” was…

A review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that Parkinson’s patients treated with medications containing entacapone are at no increased risk of prostate cancer. As such, the agency stands by its current recommendations for the use of Stalevo (entacapone/carbidopa/levodopa) and Comtan (entacapone; brand name is Comtess…

Treatment with Xadago (safinamide) or cannabinoids and opioids may the best therapeutic options to effectively manage pain in patients with Parkinson’s disease, researchers suggest. The study, “Comprehensive Examination of Therapies for Pain in Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” was published in the journal…