Richard B. Mailman, PhD
The federal Food and Drug Administration is considering approving a new Parkinson’s drug pioneered by a UVA Health scientist that could give people with Parkinson’s a “second honeymoon” for controlling their movement symptoms.
If approved, the drug, tavapadon, would be the first new type of Parkinson’s medication in more than half a century.
Parkinson’s now is typically treated with a drug called levodopa. Levodopa’s discovery was a game-changer, vastly improving patients’ lifespans and quality of life. But it loses its effectiveness as dopamine nerve cells in the brain die off.
Tavapadon, on the other hand, works differently, so it could offer patients an important new option, and could allow patients to regain motor control after levodopa has failed.
UVA Health’s Richard B. Mailman, PhD, has gone on a decades-long journey to get the drug to patients. He tried to get drug companies large and small interested in his promising approach, but he was turned away because they believed the market was too small. Undeterred, he soldiered on, and now the pharmaceutical company AbbVie has submitted tavapadon for FDA consideration. That’s the last step needed before the drug could become available.
Filed Under: Clinical