AbbVie announces positive phase 3 results for Parkinson's treatment

AbbVie has announced favorable top-line results from its phase 3 TEMPO-1 trial, which evaluated tavapadon as a standalone treatment for early-stage Parkinson's disease. The trial reached its primary goal by showing a notable improvement in motor function, as measured by the MDS-UPDRS Parts II and III combined score at the 26-week mark.

Additionally, the trial met its key secondary objective, demonstrating that tavapadon improved patients' motor aspects of daily living. Both the 5 mg and 15 mg doses of tavapadon performed better than the placebo in these assessments.

AbbVie intends to utilize the data from this trial to support regulatory filings for tavapadon as a treatment for Parkinson's disease. Moreover, further results from the phase 3 TEMPO-2 trial are anticipated by the end of 2024.

Tavapadon is the first and only D1/D5 receptor partial agonist being investigated as a once-daily treatment for Parkinson's disease. It operates through a novel mechanism that selectively activates D1/D5 dopamine receptors. Despite its recent advancements, tavapadon was not the primary asset in AbbVie's $8.7 billion acquisition announced last December. At that time, AbbVie had emphasized emraclidine, Cerevel's positive allosteric modulator, which is currently undergoing phase 2 trials for schizophrenia.