Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0030567 (Parkinson's disease)
 63,064 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibition is an important advance in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. This consensus statement provides guidelines for the optimal use of the only currently available COMT inhibitor, entacapone (Comtess, Orion Pharma (UK) Ltd, Newbury, Berkshire).
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PMID:The role of entacapone in the management of Parkinson's disease. 1085 4

Entacapone (Comtess/Comtan) is Orion Pharma's original proprietary catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) inhibitor. Entacapone is able to slow down degradation of levodopa and improve the availability and efficacy of each levodopa dose, hence its use as a complement to levodopa/carbidopa in patients with Parkinson's disease. In order to simplify the daily dosing of these medications, Orion has developed an entacapone/levodopa/carbidopa combination tablet. Three tablet strengths are being developed so as to cover the most common clinical dosing needs. In September 2000, Orion signed a marketing and distribution agreement with Novartis for the combination tablet. Under the terms of the agreement, Orion has exclusive marketing rights for the product in Germany, the UK, Ireland, the Nordic and Baltic countries, and several Eastern European countries. Novartis has exclusive rights to the US and territories other than those markets for which Orion holds market exclusivity. Orion also has the option to co-promote the product in France, Spain and several other countries. In June 2003, the US FDA approved the entacapone/levodopa/carbidopa combination tablet (Stalevo) for the treatment of patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease who experience signs and symptoms of end-of-dose 'wearing off'. Market launch of the product is expected toward the end of 2003 in the US. Also in June 2003, the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products of the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products adopted a positive opinion of the combination tablet. In September 2002, Orion submitted an application for the approval of the combination product in the European Union. It is expected that the product will be marketed in the European Union in early 2004. Orion estimates that about two of three fluctuating Parkinson's disease patients will be able to be treated effectively with the triple combination tablet.
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PMID:Entacapone/levodopa/carbidopa combination tablet: Stalevo. 1295 1

Levodopa is the main pharmacologic treatment for Parkinson's disease. However, the long-term administration of levodopa is associated with the development of motor complications which can seriously compromise patient function. Increasing evidence indicates that such problems are related to abnormal pulsatile stimulation of striatal dopamine receptors and that treatments providing more continuous stimulation reduce the risk of motor complications. It is possible that administering levodopa with a reversible catechol-O-methyl transferase inhibitor at frequent intervals might reduce the risk of these complications. Stalevo (Orion) combines levodopa, the dopa-decarboxylase inhibitor carbidopa and the catechol-O-methyl transferase inhibitor entacapone in a single tablet. This review provides an overview of the initial clinical experience gained with Stalevo during clinical trials, including several case studies.
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PMID:Clinical experience with the novel levodopa formulation entacapone + levodopa + carbidopa (Stalevo). 1585 78