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Friday, September 19, 2014

TOZADENANT CLINICAL TRIALS FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE

19th September 2014 - New research


Lancet Neurology [2014] 13 (8) : 767-776 (R.A.Hauser, C.W.Olanow, K.D.Kieburtz, E.
Pourcher, A.Docu-Axelerad, M.Lew, O.Kozyolkin, A.Neale, C.Resburg, U.Meya, C.Kenney,
S.Bandak) Complete abstract : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25008546

Clinical trials assessed the use 60mg, 120mg, 180mg, or 240mg tozadenant in people with
Parkinson's Disease who were being treated with L-dopa and who had motor fluctuations that involved at least 2·5 hours off-time per day. Tozadenant (SYN115) is an inhibitor of the adenosine 2a (A2a) receptor that is being developed for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease.

Compared with the use of a placebo, daily off-time was reduced by more than an hour when taking either 120mg or 180mg tozadenant. The most common adverse events were dyskinesia (16% of people taking 120mg, 20% of people
taking 180mg), nausea (11% of people taking 120mg, 12% of people taking 180mg), dizziness (5% of people taking 120mg, 13% of people taking 180mg). Tozadenant, 60 mg twice daily, was not associated with a significant reduction in off-time. Tozadenant, 240 mg twice daily, was associated with an increased rate of discontinuation because of adverse events that occurred in 20% of people taking that dosage. The researchers concluded that Tozadenant at 120 or 180 mg twice daily was generally well tolerated and was effective at reducing off-time. Further investigation of tozadenant treatment in phase 3 trials is warranted.



http://www.viartis.net/parkinsons.disease/news/140919.pdf

For more information go to Biotie Therapies : 
http://www.biotie.com/en/product_portfolio/product_portfolio/syn115



Tozadenant (SYN115): A highly differentiated product for Parkinson’s disease

Biotie is developing a novel product, tozadenant (SYN115) for Parkinson´s disease. The product has a unique mechanism of action and, if successful, could represent the first new treatment modality for this disease in more than 20 years. Biotie owns full global rights to tozadenant and is currently evaluating the most suitable development strategy for this Phase 3 ready asset to maximize its value to Biotie’s shareholders, including considering new partnerships to assist in the development and commercialization of tozadenant.
About Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that is associated with four common motor symptoms:  tremor of the hands, arms, legs, jaws, and or face; rigidity or stiffness of the limbs and trunk; slowness of movement and impaired balance or coordination.  As the disease progresses the conditions become more pronounced and patients have difficulty walking, talking and completing simple daily tasks. Eventually patients are restricted to a bed or a chair and require constant nursing care. Parkinson’s disease is also frequently associated with co-morbid, non-motor symptoms including depression, dementia, psychosis, and sleep disorders. These may be as disabling as, or more disabling than, the motor symptoms.
The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are related to the death of neurons that produce the chemical messenger dopamine in regions of the brain controlling movement. The non-motor symptoms experienced by Parkinson’s patients are likely secondary to the underlying loss of dopaminergic neurons and potentially other types of neurons (cholinergic, serotonergic and adrenergic).
Parkinson’s disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders occurring with an incidence second only to that of Alzheimer’s disease and a prevalence in the US, five major EU countries (5MEU) and Japan of approximately 1.6 million (footnotes a, b). The average age of onset is 60 years and, as the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease increases with age, its prevalence is expected to increase as the global population ages.
There are currently no available therapies that are capable of curing Parkinson’s disease and so the goal of therapy is to reduce symptoms to allow patients to perform usual daily activities. Existing therapies include levodopa (L-Dopa), dopamine agonists and the dopamine extenders. These have limited efficacy, are associated with significant side effects (including dyskinesias, or sudden jerking movements) and their effects diminish over time, leaving patients with re-emergence of symptoms before their next dose (‘wearing off’).  New therapeutic modalities that improve control of motor symptoms, delay the time to use of L-Dopa, reduce troublesome side effects, treat some of the non-motor symptoms such as dementia, depression, sleep disorders, and which slow progression of the disease are needed and will drive market growth. 

Product profile for tozadenant (SYN115)
SYN115 is an orally administered, potent and selective inhibitor of the adenosine 2a (A2a) receptor that is being developed initially for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, but may also have utility in other CNS disorders.
A2a receptors are expressed in high concentration in the striatum of the brain and there is an emerging body of evidence that they play an important role in regulating motor function. SYN115 blocks the effect of endogenous adenosine at the A2a receptors, resulting in the potentiation of the effect of dopamine at the D2 receptor and inhibition of the effect of glutamate at the mGluR5 receptor. This enables restoration of motor function in Parkinson’s disease patients without the induction of troublesome dyskinesias. SYN115 has the potential for use as mono-therapy or adjunctive therapy in combination with L-Dopa and dopamine agonists for the treatment of the motor and non-motor symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease. 
SYN115 may also have neuroprotective effects, which raises the possibility that it could slow the deterioration of dopamine producing cells and modify disease progression – a holy grail in Parkinson’s disease.

Clinical trial status of SYN115
SYN115 was initially studied in a single ascending dose study, two multiple ascending dose Phase 1 studies and a Phase 2a study in L-Dopa treated subjects with mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s disease. In these studies l, a total 127 normal volunteers and Parkinson’s disease patients received SYN115 for up to 28 days, at doses ranging from 5mg to 480mg per day (dosed once or twice daily). In these clinical studies, SYN115 was shown to be safe and well tolerated. In the Phase 2a study, sophisticated imaging techniques (fMRI) were used to evaluate the effect of SYN115 on the brain. The results showed that SYN115 enters the brain and causes changes in functional activity in specific regions associated with motor function and cognition. Improvements in various clinical assessments of motor function and cognition have also been demonstrated.
In April 2011, Biotie commenced a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2b study that evaluated four doses of SYN115 versus placebo as adjunctive therapy in 420 levodopa-treated PD patients with end of dose wearing off.  In these patients, treatment with levodopa is insufficient to control Parkinson’s disease symptoms until their next dose, resulting in an 'off' period when symptoms reappear. The aim of the Phase 2b study was to determine the efficacy and safety of SYN115 in reducing the mean time spent in the 'off' state over a 12 week treatment period. The trial also assessed the impact of SYN115 on various measures of motor symptom severity, dyskinesia and non-motor symptoms. Enrolment in the study was completed in July 2012 and top-line data reported in December 2012. In this study, tozadenant displayed clinically relevant and statistically highly significant effects on Parkinson’s disease across multiple pre-specified evaluation metrics including: a decrease vs. placebo in 'off' time, an increase in 'on' time, an improved score on UPDRS part III  and UPDRS parts I-III combined, as well as improvements on clinician- and patient-assessed global impression scores. Additionally, the study identified the minimally efficacious and maximum feasible dose levels, as well as clinically useful target doses for Phase 3. Tozadenant was generally well tolerated in the study.
Extensive data from the Phase 2b study have been presented at the 65th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) in San Diego, March 20, 2013. as well as in the 17th International Congress of the Movement Disorder Society in Sydney, June 2013.

Program status

 Following an agreement announced in 2010, Biotie licensed worldwide exclusive rights to UCB Pharma S.A. (UCB) in February 2013 and received a one-time payment of USD 20 million Following an agreement announced in 2010, Biotie licensed worldwide exclusive rights to UCB Pharma S.A. (UCB) in February 2013 and received a one-time payment of USD 20 million (Stock exchange release; February 27, 2013); a potential additional USD 340 million in future milestone payments were payable under the agreement with UCB.

Tozadenant is now transitioning into Phase 3 development. Since February 2013, preparations for the Phase 3 development program were undertaken in collaboration with UCB; these included CMC and non-clinical work, and certain Phase 3 enabling clinical pharmacology studies for which Biotie received EUR 9.7 million in additional development milestones in 2013. Patient enrolment in the phase 3 program is currently planned to commence by the first half of 2015.

In March 2014, it was announced that UCB were returning global rights to tozadenant to Biotie after UCB's assessment of its early and late stage clinical development pipeline, as well as its preclinical opportunities, and did not reflect any concerns regarding safety or efficacy of tozadenant. UCB has confirmed that it will meet all its contractual and scientific commitments regarding the ongoing development program for tozadenant, including conducting together with Biotie the scheduled End-of-Phase 2 meeting with US Food and Drug Administration in H1 2014. The companies are working together to execute an appropriate transfer of the program back to Biotie.

Owning full global rights to tozadenant will enable Biotie to evaluate the most suitable development strategy for this Phase 3 ready asset to maximize its value to Biotie’s shareholders. As part of this evaluation Biotie will consider other partners to assist in the development and commercialization of this novel compound.

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