Levodopa inhaler lead

An inhaled form of levodopa is being trialled on Parkinson’s disease patients in a Phase III clinical trial at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. Levodopa is often given to Parkinson’s patients orally, allowing nerve cells to make dopamine.

When the drug’s effects wear off, patient’s can experience ‘off’ times. The trial aims to reduce or eliminate the negative impact of ‘off’ periods with inhaled levodopa.

University of Nevada School of Medicine associate professor of neurology, Dr Eric Farbman is recruiting patients with advanced forms of Parkinson’s disease.

New methods of receiving levodopa have been approved in the past few years, and research in Parkinson’s is an extremely active field, Dr Farbman said.