Novel Deep Brain Stimulation System, ITI-214 Safe for Parkinson Disease, Elizabeth Ross on the Field's Progress

This week, Neurology News Network covered the use of a new deep brain stimulation system which allows for independent control of multiple electrodes, the favorable safety profile of an investigational Parkinson disease treatment, and a conversation with Elizabeth Ross, MD, about the progress made in neurology (transcript below).

Jenna:

Welcome to Neurology News Network. I’m Jenna Payesko.

Matt:

And I’m Matt Hoffman. Let’s get into the news from this week.

A new deep brain stimulation system was found to improve symptoms of Parkinson disease in the first double-blind, sham-controlled trial to be conducted with this type of intervention. The system met its primary end point of change from baseline in on time without dyskinesias.

The new DBS system is unique for enabling individual control of the current to each electrode of multiple implants. The manufacturer, Boston Scientific, describes it as multiple independent current control, developed from their cochlear implant technology. Lead investigator Jerrold Vitek, MD, PhD, characterized it as a technology that he and others working in movement disorders have been waiting for.

Jenna:

Treatment with ITI-214 showed a favorable safety profile with early signs of improvement in motor symptoms for patients with Parkinson disease, according to findings from a phase 1/2 study.

In the trial, treatment was given for 7 days across a variety of doses, with adverse events increasing with the dose. Overall, a treatment-emergent adverse event was experienced by 20% of patients in the placebo group compared with 47% with ITI-214. Most of the events were mild, with none being serious. Although still early, there were signs of improvement in on-time without dyskinesia, Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, and Unified Dyskinesia Rating Score with ITI-214.

As such, a later stage clinical trial is planned for ITI-214, based on findings from the phase 1/2 study, which is still enrolling participants

Matt:

NeurologyLive was on site this week at the American Neurological Association’s 143rd Annual Meeting in Atlanta. While there, we sat down with Dr. Elizabeth Ross, the director of the Center of Neurogenetics at Weill Cornell Medicine, to speak about the developments made in recent years.

Jenna:

At the beginning of her career, friends and classmates of hers questioned her desire to enter the field of neurology, with the belief that it was a “depressing” specialty, filled with days of treating patients who had any number of neurodegenerative diseases without any real treatment options.

Matt:

Although, over the course of her career, that viewpoint has changed drastically.

Jenna:

It has. From improvements in imaging techniques to the emergence of disease-modifying therapies and, now, the rise of gene therapies, the future has never looked brighter for conditions that previously were essentially viewed as death sentences.

Let’s take a look.

Matt:

For more direct access to expert insight, head to neurologylive.com. This has been Neurology News Network. Thanks for watching.