The study, designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the once-daily dopamine agonist rotigotine, found that the drug significantly improved symptoms in the patients taking part versus placebo. In addition, rotigotine appeared to be well-tolerated by patients.
Lead investigator Ray Watts, director of clinical research and chairman of neurology at the University of Alabama, said: “Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder and this important study showed that rotigotine may be safe and effective, and potentially be of significant value in the treatment of early-stage PD.
“Rotigotine is a dopamine agonist that offers continuous drug delivery with a once-daily patch, which will hopefully mitigate the practical intra-day variability that accompanies the multiple dose regimens of other dopaminergic drugs.”
Rotigotine is designed to mimic the action of dopamine, a naturally-produced neurotransmitter crucial for proper motor functioning. Parkinson’s disease patients primarily suffer from a lack of dopamine which affects movement coordination.