13 April 2000
Hi everyone,
The 10 April 00 Jerusalem Post had an article
announcing that the Israeli company,TEVA and the Danish company Lundbeck
have completed phase-3 trials of a PD drug called Rasagiline
and that it was expected to market in 2003 after receiving FDA approval.
No mention was made of what the drug does or of the principles behind its use.
It was developed at the Israel Technion
Med School.
Note that Selegiline(aka Deprenyl) was also developed there.See the article
on PD in
Jan 1997 issue of Scientific American.
This drug became controversial when higher mortality rates were reported
with its users.In my wife's case,her neurologist took her off it on the
grounds that it was bad for her heart.
I found the following 14 July 98 headline on the Internet which has some
info on the start of the trials.
- HEADLINE
Rasagiline reaches Phase III trials in the US for
the treatment of Parkinson's disease
Rasagiline, a new monoamine oxidase-B inhibitor currently being
developed by Teva for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD), has
now reached phase III trials in the US. The results of these trials are
expected early in 1999.
Rasagiline has similar chemical and pharmacological actions to
selegiline (Deprenyl) and clinical trials in 56 early-stage PD patients in
the US have reported that it is safe and well-tolerated at doses up to
4mg/day. Rasagiline also produces a dose-dependent improvement in the
Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) in these patients.
The effects of rasagiline on chronic levodopa/carbidopa therapy in
patients with PD are currently being investigated in a phase II
double-blind, placebo-controlled study in Hungary and Israel.
Rasagiline was licensed from Prof. M Youdim of the Faculty of
Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel and is in
phase III trials in Israel and the rest of the world.
Source: Pharmaprojects, PJB Publications Ltd, 14 July 1998
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