AbbVie Inc. announced the launch of PRODUODOPA® (foslevodopa/foscarbidopa) in the European Union for the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease with severe motor fluctuations and hyperkinesia (excessive movement) or dyskinesia (involuntary movement), and when available combinations of Parkinson's medicinal products have not given satisfactory results. PRODUODOPA is the first-and-only subcutaneous 24-hour infusion of levodopa-based therapy for the treatment of severe motor fluctuations in people living with advanced Parkinson's disease whose symptoms are inadequately controlled by other therapies. The continuous delivery of PRODUODOPA provides levodopa 24-hours a day which may help patients by extending the period when symptoms are well-controlled, often referred to as "On" time.

AbbVie was granted marketing authorization of PRODUODOPA through the Decentralized Procedure in the third quarter of 2022. The VYAFUSER? pump for the subcutaneous delivery of PRODUODOPA received Conformité Européenne (CE) Mark in November of 2023.

Parkinson's disease is a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative disorder affecting approximately 6.1 million people globally and is expected to double by 2040. Parkinson's disease is characterized by tremor, muscle rigidity, slowness of movement and difficulty with balance. As the disease progresses, the severity of symptoms increases, and patients tend to experience greater disability and an impaired ability to perform activities of daily living, as well as the reemergence of symptoms as standard treatment wears off.

Characteristics of advanced Parkinson's disease may include needing help with performing daily activities, increased motor fluctuations (changes in the ability to move referred to as "On-Off" times), difficulty swallowing, recurrent falls, dementia, dyskinesia (involuntary movements) and other symptoms. The launch was supported by three studies: the Phase 3, 12-month open label study (M15-741 study) which evaluated the long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy of continuous subcutaneous infusion of PRODUODOPA, the Phase 3, 12-week study (M15-736 study) which compared the efficacy and safety of PRODUODOPA to oral levodopa/carbidopa, and a Phase 1 pharmacokinetic comparability study. Findings from the M15-741 safety and tolerability study showed a favorable benefit/risk profile and demonstrated sustained improvements in "Off" time and "On" time without dyskinesia, and morning akinesia as measured by the percentage of patients in early morning "Off" time as recorded by PD diary. The majority of adverse events (AEs) with PRODUODOPA were non-serious and mild or moderate in severity.

The most frequent AEs (greater than or equal to 10 percent) were infusion site events (infusion site erythema, infusion site cellulitis, infusion site nodule, infusion site pain, infusion site oedema, infusion site reaction, and infusion site infection), hallucination, fall, and anxiety. About the Phase 3 M15-741 Study: The Phase 3, single arm, open-label study evaluated the safety and tolerability, and efficacy of 24-hour daily exposure of continuous subcutaneous infusion of PRODUODOPA in people with advanced Parkinson's disease whose motor symptoms were inadequately controlled by their current treatment. The primary endpoint was to evaluate the safety and tolerability of PRODUODOPA.

Secondary endpoints included changes from baseline in normalized "Off" and "On" time, percentage of patients reporting morning akinesia, and total scores from quality-of-life surveys. The study was conducted at 58 sites across 13 countries (Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States). Eligible patients included adults 30 years or older diagnosed with levodopa-responsive idiopathic Parkinson's disease experiencing an average of greater than or equal to 2.5 hours of "Off" time per day, as assessed by patient's Parkinson's disease diaries.

Reduction in motor fluctuations was observed as early as one week and persisted through week 52. The percentage of patients experiencing morning akinesia dropped from 77.7 percent at baseline to 27.8 percent at week 52. About the Phase 3 M15-736 Study: The Phase 3 randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled study compared the efficacy, safety and tolerability of PRODUODOPA to oral immediate-release levodopa/carbidopa (LD/CD) in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease.

Participants were provided with a home diary (the PD Diary) to assess their motor state during the day. The primary endpoint was "On" time without troublesome dyskinesia. The study included 141 participants who were randomly assigned and received treatment at 65 centers in the U.S. and Australia.

Participants were randomized one to one to receive either the PRODUODOPA solution as a continuous delivery under the skin (subcutaneous) plus oral placebo capsules for LD/CD or oral capsules containing immediate-release LD/CD plus continuous subcutaneous delivery of placebo solution for PRODUODOPA. The treatment duration was 12 weeks. The increase in "On" time without troublesome dyskinesia at week 12 was an average of 2.72 hours for PRODUODOPA versus 0.97 hours for oral LD/CD (p= 0.0083).

Improvements in "On" time were observed as early as the first week and persisted throughout the 12 weeks. This study also assessed changes from baseline to week 12 in motor experiences of daily living, morning akinesia, sleep, and quality of life indicators, however results did not achieve statistical significance. About the Phase 1 Pharmacokinetic study: A Phase 1, open label, randomized, two period cross over study was conducted to compare the pharmacokinetics (PK) of levodopa from 24-hour continuous subcutaneous infusion of PRODUODOPA (foslevodopa/foscarbidopa) to the PK of levodopa from 16-hour levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG), followed by two night-time oral levodopa/carbidopa (LD/CD) doses.

The levodopa exposures following subcutaneous infusion of PRODUODOPA over 24 hours were similar (less than 8 percent difference) to those of LCIG mg LD/CD administered over 16 hours, followed by two oral doses at 18 and 21 hours after the start of LCIG delivery. The study concluded that 24-hour continuous subcutaneous infusion of PRODUODOPA provides levodopa exposures comparable to LCIG throughout the day. About PRODUODOPA® (foslevodopa/foscarbidopa): PRODUODOPA® (foslevodopa/foscarbidopa) is a solution of levodopa and carbidopa prodrugs for 24-hour continuous subcutaneous infusion for the treatment of advanced levodopa-responsive Parkinson's disease with severe motor fluctuations and hyperkinesia or dyskinesia when available combinations of Parkinson medicinal products have not given satisfactory results.