from pipeline email: Solvay has sold duodopa

Dear PatientsLikeMe Member,
On behalf of PatientsLikeMe and Abbott Laboratories, we're writing to let you know about t he HORIZON program, a group of Parkinson's Disease medical research studies. If you have Parkinson's Disease (PD) but still experience persistent or severe symptoms despite your current PD treatment, you may be eligible to participate in one of these studies.
Why is the HORIZON program being conducted?
A commonly used PD treatment today is a combination of levodopa and carbidopa, taken orally. Levodopa helps relieve symptoms of PD by delivering dopamine (a neurotransmitter essential for normal functioning of the central nervous system) to the brain, while carbidopa helps increase the effectiveness of levodopa and reduces potential side effects. Unfortunately, treatment with oral levodopa-carbidopa can sometimes lose its effectiveness over time. As a result, some PD patients still experience swings in motor function despite treatment with this or other PD medications.
The HORIZON program is being conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of an i nvestigational levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel that is administered internally by an investigational programmable pump. This pump automatically administers the levodopa-carbidopa gel to the small intestine and therefore requires all study participants have an inpatient procedure to insert a stomach tube for use with the pump. It is not yet known whether treatment with the investigational levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel will work better than treatment with oral levodopa-carbidopa.


Am I eligible to participate? To qualify for HORIZON, you must:

• be at least 30 years of age,
• have been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease,
• experience fluctuations in motor function ("on" and "off" times), AND
• experience these "off" times at least three hours a day, despite treatment.

Total participation in the HORIZON program could last from four months to a little over a year, depending on the study you are eligible to enter. Study participants will receive the investigational levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel and pump, as well as study-related medical evaluations and tests, at no cost. Reimbursement for time and travel may also be provided. Further studies that continue the investigational levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel treatment are available for qualified participants.
Who should I contact about this program? If you would like to learn more about participating in one of these studies, or have any questions, please visit www.advancedPDstudy.com or the HORIZON program page on PatientsLikeMe. We hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
The HORIZON Program Team