AbbVie's Parkinson's treatment eases disease burden in phase 3 trial

AbbVie recently announced promising results for its late-stage monotherapy candidate, tavapadon, in reducing Parkinson’s disease burden compared to a placebo. This development was revealed on the same day some Parkinson’s medications were called into question. The phase 3 TEMPO-1 trial evaluated two daily doses of tavapadon, 5 mg and 15 mg, both of which showed significant improvements in disease burden at Week 26. The improvements were measured using the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, as per a release on September 26.

Additionally, tavapadon achieved secondary endpoints, enhancing patient mobility in everyday activities. AbbVie reported that most side effects were mild to moderate and consistent with previous trials. Tavapadon acts by partially binding to the D1 and D5 dopamine receptors, which are crucial for motor activity regulation. The drug is being developed both as a standalone treatment and in combination with levodopa, a common first-line therapy for Parkinson’s disease.

AbbVie plans to release results from another phase 3 trial of tavapadon later this year. This ongoing trial investigates the drug as a flexible-dose monotherapy.

AbbVie acquired tavapadon in 2023 through the purchase of Cerevel Therapeutics for $8.7 billion. Another significant asset from this acquisition is emraclidine, currently being tested for schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease psychosis. Emraclidine is a muscarinic M4 selective positive allosteric modulator, similar to Karuna Therapeutics’ KarXT, which is awaiting an FDA approval decision.

The announcement of these results occurs amidst scrutiny over prasinezumab, a Parkinson’s drug in development by Prothena Biosciences and Roche. A recent Science investigation highlighted concerns over the scientific foundation of prasinezumab, revealing that more than 100 research papers by Dr. Eliezer Masliah of the National Institute on Aging's neuroscience division contained manipulated images. Four of these papers were essential to the drug’s development.