Joaquim Ferreira, MD, PhD: Opicapone’s Use in Levodopa-Treated Patients With Parkinson Disease

“Interestingly, the results are very similar with the results we had with the global population, even slightly better—meaning the magnitude of effect was slightly better than what we’d found for the global population. This is interesting because these patients are, probably, slightly less severe.”

At the 2020 MDS Virtual Congress, September 12–16, 2020, Joaquim J. Ferreira, MD, PhD, and colleagues presented data from an exploratory post-hoc analysis of the BIPARK I and II trials (NCT01568073 and NCT01227655) of opicapone (Ongetys; Neurocrine Biosciences). The data ultimately suggest that a 50-mg dose is viable as a first-line adjunctive treatment for motor fluctuations in patients with Parkinson disease who are being treated with levodopa.

The assessment included 68 patients given the once-daily, oral, selective catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor and 59 administered placebo, all of whom were only treated with levodopa. In total, the changes from baseline in absolute OFF and ON time were significantly greater for the opicapone group (OFF time P = .0161; ON time P = .0049).

To inquire further about the data and what the clinical community should know, NeurologyLive spoke with Ferreira, who is a professor of neurology and clinical pharmacology, and head of the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the University of Lisbon. He offered his insight on the study findings and gave perspective on the importance of the study population of this analysis.

For more coverage of MDS 2020, click here.

REFERENCE
Ferreira J, Poewe W, Antonini A, et al. Opicapone as First-Line Adjunctive Levodopa Treatment in Parkinson's Disease Patients with Motor Fluctuations: Findings from BIPARK-I and II Combined Post-Hoc Analysis. Presented at: MDS Virtual Congress; September 12–16, 2020. Abstract 999.