Amneal Pharmaceuticals announced that the FDA has approved its extended-release carbidopa and levodopa (CD/LD, [IPX203]) capsules, marketed as Crexont, for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, according to a company news release.1
As Parkinson’s disease progresses, patients often experience increased motor fluctuations and reduced “good on-time,” defined as periods without troublesome dyskinesia.1 Whereas existing immediate-release CD/LD products are short-acting, Amneal’s IPX203 combines immediate-release granules and extended-release pellets to provide rapid onset of action and long-lasting efficacy, respectively.
Trial Name: A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of IPX203 in Parkinson's Disease Participants With Motor Fluctuations
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT03670953
Sponsor: Impax Laboratories, LLC
Summary: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of IPX203 (carbidopa and levodopa) extended-release capsules (IPX203 ER CD-LD) in comparison to immediate release (IR) CD-LD in the treatment of CD-LD-experienced participants with Parkinson's disease (PD) who have motor fluctuations.
“The approval of Crexont is a seminal moment in the treatment paradigm for PD. The burden of this incurable neurodegenerative disease increases with time. Some PD patients on immediate-release CD/LD take up to 10 daily doses and still experience motor fluctuations,” said Chirag and Chintu Patel, co-chief executive officers of Amneal Pharmaceuticals, in the release.1 “Crexont’s innovative formulation provides a longer duration of good on-time with less frequent dosing compared to immediate-release CD/LD.”
“Amneal is so excited to introduce this meaningful new treatment for Parkinson’s patients in the US and soon internationally. We are committed to advance Parkinson’s research and development as a leader in the space,” they continued.
READ MORE: GLP-1 Shows Protection Against Dementia in Phase 2b Trial
The approval was supported by data from the 20-week, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled phase 3 RISE-PD (NCT03670953) clinical trial, with results published in JAMA Neurology.2 In total, 506 participants were randomly assigned to receive either IPX203 or immediate-release CD/LD. The primary end point was mean change in daily good on-time.
Compared to immediate-release CD/LD, IPX203 significantly increased daily good on-time by an average of 0.5 hours (95% CI, 0.09-0.97; P= .02), despite being administered less frequently; IPX203 was administered 3 times daily, while immediate-release CD/LD was administered 5 times daily. Additionally, a post-hoc analysis found that each dose of IPX203 provided an extra 1.6 hours of good on-time compared to immediate-release CD/LD (95% CI, 1.37-1.73; P< .001).