Neuroderm succeeds in Parkinson's patch trial

The drug delivery patch would improve the availability of orally administered levodopa.

Sources inform ''Globes'' that Neuroderm Ltd. has achieved promising results in the primary endpoint of its Phase II clinical trial of ND0611, a carbidopa patch for treating Parkinson’s disease. The drug delivery patch would improve the availability of orally administered levodopa.

Oral levodopa is rapidly digested so require high dosages, which causes side effects. Neuroderm hopes that delivering the drug directly to the bloodstream via the skin will offer a more effective treatment for Parkinson's disease at lower dosages, and therefore fewer side effects.

The multicenter trial included 24 patients who received six treatments: three with commercially available Parkinson's drugs and three with these drugs delivered via the company's patch. Patients who received the patch showed higher levels of the drug in the blood, compared with the oral drugs. The same effect was measured with all three drugs tested.

The trial is too small to provide clear statistical efficacy of the patch, but the link between levels of the drugs in the blood and their effectiveness is known - and this was the trial's primary endpoint.

ND0611 is registered as a new therapy and two large clinical trials (Phase IIb and Phase III trials) will probably be required before it can be brought to market. Optimistically, the drug can reach the market in 2015.

Neuroderm planned to hold an IPO on the TASE at a company value of $30 million in early 2011, but postponed the offering following the failed IPOs by other life sciences companies. Instead it raised $2 million in a convertible loan from its shareholder Capital Point Ltd. (TASE:CPTP), Robert Taub and other private investors. The company has also received $1 million in funding from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.

Neuroderm is also developing drug delivery patches for treating attention deficit disorder, which are undergoing a Phase II clinical trial. This product is a new molecule derived from nicotine.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 8, 2011

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011

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