Cerevance has released results from a phase 3 trial of its once-daily oral solengepras, in which the Parkinson’s disease drug demonstrated both motor and non-motor benefits.
Solengepras is an adjunctive treatment for patients with Parkinson’s disease who suffer from motor fluctuations when taking levodopa or similar medications. The novel first-in-class therapy acts on the GPR6 receptor to target the striatal indirect pathway while having no effect on dopamine receptors.
In the ARISE trial, solengepras 150 mg met its primary endpoint, reducing daily OFF time by a statistically-significant amount, starting as early as week 2 and continuing through week 12. In addition, the drug met its secondary endpoint, leading to improvements in ON time without causing dyskinesia or resulting in issues with motor experiences of daily living. Patients also saw improvements to daytime sleepiness, based on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale. The drug was generally well tolerated, with patients experiencing fewer adverse events than with dopaminergic adjunctive therapies.