Cynapsus' sublingual strip for severe Parkinson's reduces side effects in study

Canada-based Cynapsus has come up with the first sublingual option for the delivery of apomorphine to patients with Parkinson's disease to control their debilitating "off" episodes. The company this week heralded results from a study comparing the thin film strip with a subcutaneous injection of the same drug, noting a reduction in side effects.

The dopamine agonist apomorphine is an important drug for people with advanced Parkinson's and one of the only treatments that has been shown to get patients "unstuck" from "off" periods, in which it becomes extremely difficult for them to move. But the drug is instable and has a host of side effects when injected under the skin. Cynapsus' delivery method attempts to curtail this with an acidity-changing process in the mouth.

"One of the limitations of apomorphine is it must be maintained in a highly acidic composition--otherwise it's very unstable," Cynapsus CEO Anthony Giovinazzo told FierceDrugDelivery over the phone from the J. P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. "What our strip system does is allow the drug to remain intact on the strip and change in acidity as it dissolves in the mouth. It allows it to penetrate in two minutes or less and get the drug into the bloodstream."...

...Cynapsus does have the coveted blessing of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, which granted the company almost $1 million about a year ago to move forward with the approval process. That comes with a certain amount of credibility, Giovinazzo mentioned.

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Thanks. Still a few more years (at least) of research to go on this one. But, the early results look good and they are a good company.

I hope this doesn't set back the timeline for the sublingual strip (APL-130277) clinical trials and possible NDA.

Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc. CA:CTH -7.06% (otcqx:CYNAF), a specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced that Nathan Bryson, Chief Scientific Officer, will be leaving the Company to pursue other opportunities.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cyn...k=MW_news_stmp