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Introduction OFF episodes negatively impact quality of life in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). There remains a need for an acute, effective, noninvasive treatment. Background APL-130277 is a sublingually administered apomorphine oral strip. Methods The authors conducted a phase 2, open-label, proof-of-concept study. Patients presented to clinic in the morning in the practically defined OFF state and were dosed with APL-130277 10 mg. Assessments of OFF or ON state and MDS-UPDRS part III were conducted predose and at 15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 minutes. If a full ON was not achieved within 3 hours, the dose was increased in 5 mg increments until a full ON was achieved or to a maximum dose of 30 mg. Patients could be dosed up to two times a day over 3 days. Patients were pretreated with trimethobenzamide for 3 days, which was continued during the study. Results Of 19 patients, 15 (78.9%) achieved a full ON response. All 15 achieved a full ON response within 30 minutes and 6 of the 15 patients (40.0%) achieved a full ON response within 15 minutes. The mean (SD) duration of ON was 50 (19.4) minutes. Of the 15 patients, 9 (60.0%) remained fully ON for ≥90 minutes. There were no discontinuations as a result of an adverse event. The most common adverse events were dizziness (36.8%), somnolence (31.6%), and nausea (21.1%). Conclusion This was the first study of a new sublingual apomorphine formulation in PD patients. In this open-label study, APL-130277 appeared to provide a convenient, rapid, and reliable method for treating OFF episodes. © 2016 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society

Background Continuous administration of levodopa‐carbidopa intestinal gel (carbidopa‐levodopa enteral suspension) through a percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy is a treatment option for advanced Parkinson disease (PD) patients with motor fluctuations resistant to standard oral medications. Safety data from 4 prospective studies were integrated to assess the safety of this therapy. Methods Safety data from 4 studies were summarized using 2 overlapping data sets, permitting the separation of procedure/device–associated (n = 395) from non‐procedure/device adverse events (n = 412). Results At the data cutoff, median exposure to levodopa‐carbidopa intestinal gel was 911 days (range, 1‐1980 days) with 963 total patient‐years of exposure. Procedure/device adverse events occurred in 300 patients (76%), and serious adverse events occurred in 68 (17%); most frequently reported procedure/device adverse events and serious adverse events were complications of device insertion (41% and 8%, respectively) and abdominal pain (36% and 4%, respectively). Non‐procedure/device adverse events occurred in 92% (379), with most frequently reported being insomnia (23%) and falls (23%); 42% (171) had non‐procedure/device serious adverse events, with most frequently reported being pneumonia (5%) and PD symptoms (2%). Adverse events led to discontinuation in 17% (72), most frequently because of complication of device insertion (2.4%). There were 34 treatment‐emergent deaths (8.3%) in the overlapping data sets, 2 of which (0.5%) were considered “possibly related” to the treatment system. Conclusion In the largest collection of levodopa‐carbidopa intestinal gel safety data from prospective clinical studies, procedure/device events were frequently reported and occasionally life threatening. Most non‐procedure/device events were typical for levodopa treatment and an elderly population. These factors combined with high treatment efficacy led to a relatively low discontinuation rate in advanced PD patients. © 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society

Motor complications in Parkinson's disease (PD) are associated with long-term oral levodopa treatment and linked to pulsatile dopaminergic stimulation. l-dopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) is delivered continuously by percutaneous endoscopic gastrojejunostomy tube (PEG-J), which reduces l-dopa-plasma–level fluctuations and can translate to reduced motor complications. We present final results of the largest international, prospective, 54-week, open-label LCIG study. PD patients with severe motor fluctuations (>3 h/day “off” time) despite optimized therapy received LCIG monotherapy. Additional PD medications were allowed >28 days post-LCIG initiation. Safety was the primary endpoint measured through adverse events (AEs), device complications, and number of completers. Secondary endpoints included diary-assessed off time, “on” time with/without troublesome dyskinesia, UPDRS, and health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) outcomes. Of 354 enrolled patients, 324 (91.5%) received PEG-J and 272 (76.8%) completed the study. Most AEs were mild/moderate and transient; complication of device insertion (34.9%) was the most common. Twenty-seven (7.6%) patients withdrew because of AEs. Serious AEs occurred in 105 (32.4%), most commonly complication of device insertion (6.5%). Mean daily off time decreased by 4.4 h/65.6% (P < 0.001). On time without troublesome dyskinesia increased by 4.8 h/62.9% (P < 0.001); on time with troublesome dyskinesia decreased by 0.4 h/22.5% (P = 0.023). Improvements persisted from week 4 through study completion. UPDRS and HRQoL outcomes were also improved throughout. In the advanced PD population, LCIG's safety profile consisted primarily of AEs associated with the device/procedure, l-dopa/carbidopa, and advanced PD. LCIG was generally well tolerated and demonstrated clinically significant improvements in motor function, daily activities, and HRQoL sustained over 54 weeks. © 2014 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

Botulinum toxin type B (BTX-B) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of cervical dystonia. However, as with botulinum toxin type A (BTX-A) it has off-label uses, such as for hyperhidrosis, focal dystonias, spasticity, and facial wrinkles. BTX-B has also been shown to be a safe and effective alternative for patients who are resistant to BTX-A. The most commonly reported side effects include dry mouth and dysphagia. To date, there have been few reports of visual disturbances associated with BTX-B use. In this study, we report on three individual patients who received BTX-B and who subsequently developed parasympathetic dysfunction of the visual system after injections of BTX-B at remote sites.