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Hi Folks, Have just read a short article by Professor Peter Jenner in "The Parkinson" which is the UK PD Society's Quarterly. Thought it would be worth sending it to the Group for information. NEW DRUGS - AN UPDATE by Professor Peter Jenner This year should see the launch of at least two new dopamine agonist drugs for treating Parkinson's Disease. Ropinirole (SmithKline Beecham, UK) and Pramipexole (Pharmacia/Upjohn,USA) will provide another means of treating both the early stages of Parkinson's disease and the problems which arise when L-DOPA starts to lose its effect. The potential advantage of these drugs hopefully lies in a lower ability to induce dyskinesias compared to L-DOPA and a low propensity to induce psychiatric side effects. Pharmacia/Upjohn are also developing another dopamine agonist, named Carbergoline, which is claimed to have a long duration of effect. Two drugs for potentiating the effect of L-DOPA are under development. These compounds, called Entacapone (Orion, Finland) and Tolcapone (Hoffmann-LaRoche, Switzerland) act by preventing the breakdown of L-DOPA by an enzyme called catechol O-methyl transferase (COMT). Both inhibit COMT activity and prolong the duration of effect of each dose of L-DOPA. These should be launched in 1998. Finally, an exciting new compound is under development for Parkinson's disease. Known as NS 2214 (NeuroSearch, Denmark), in experimental models, it reverses the motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease without provoking dyskinesias even when these have already been established by prior treatment with L-DOPA. The interest in this compound is so great that Bristol Myers Squibb have just invested $30 million in co-developing the drug with NeuroSearch. Regards to you all. Ernie Ernie Peters ([log in to unmask])