Phase IIb Pivotal Clinical Study Of P2B001 For The Treatment Of Early Stage Parkinson's Disease

By News Staff | July 4th 2015

The Phase IIb pivotal study of P2B001 for the treatment of early stage Parkinson's Disease has been announced as a success. 

P2B001 is a combination of low dose pramipexole and low dose rasagiline administered as a proprietary sustained release formulation. The study, titled A Phase IIb, Twelve Week, Multi-Center, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel Group Study, To Determine the Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy of Two Doses of Once Daily P2B001 in Subjectswith Early Parkinson's Disease, showed that it met primary and secondary clinical endpoints for both dose combinations. Specifically, the results showed:

• Overall improvement of 5.97 UPDRS points for the high dose combination, leading to a significant change of 4.67 UPDRS points compared to placebo (P<0.001)  
• Overall improvement of 5.14 UPDRS points in the low dose combination, leading to a significant change of 3.84 UPDRS units compared to placebo (P<0.001)  
• A favorable safety profile  

One hundred and forty-nine patients participated in the study which was conducted at 29 clinical sites throughout the US and Israel.  C. Warren Olanow, M.D., Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York and CEO of Clintrex LLC, and Karl Kieburtz, M.D., Professor of Neurology, Public Health Science and Environmental Medicine at the University of Rochester and President of Clintrex LLC were the clinical leaders of the study.

An estimated seven to ten million people worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disorder of the central nervous system. The cardinal symptoms of PD include: tremors, slowed movement (bradykinesia), rigid or stiff muscles, and impaired posture, balance, and walking.

The current gold standard treatment for treating PD is Levodopa, but long term use of Levodopa is associated with severe side effects over time, that include dyskinesia (uncontrolled involuntary movement) and off periods (hours of time when the patient suffers from a return of parkinsonian features). To delay this situation, physicians often prescribe other drugs at the early stage of the illness to delay the introduction of levodopa. 

Though these drugs are not associated with motor complications, they are not as effective as Levodopa and can result in serious unwanted side effects.  Therefore, there is an unmet medical need for a safe and effective treatment of early PD that allows a delay in the introduction of Levodopa and the risk of Levodopa associated motor complications.

"Pharma Two B's P2B001 combines two non-Levodopa drugs that have been individually approved for the treatment of early stage Parkinson's disease, in a sustained release profile. Given as low dose monotherapies, the anti-Parkinsonian effect of these drugs given individually is limited, while in higher doses they can be associated with potentially serious side effects. In preclinical studies, we observed that a low dose combination of these two drugs administered in a sustained release formulation has synergistic effects leading to notable efficacy and a very good safety profile," said Dr. Nurit Livnah, CEO of Pharma Two B Ltd. 

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