ROCHELLE PARK, N.J., May 14, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Asubio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will present new data on the efficacy and safety of Piclozotan in improving both dyskinesia and OFF time in Parkinson's Disease (PD) patients on levodopa who experience motor complications. Such motor complications may substantially reduce the benefit of levodopa, the gold-standard of therapy. In a two-day pilot study, Piclozotan increased dyskinesia-free ON time and reduced OFF time in patients controlled on levodopa. Patients seemed to acclimate rapidly to the main adverse events (nausea/vomiting, headache and dizziness) of Piclozotan. Overall safety was consistent with other 5-HT1A agonists. "An agent that improves both OFF time and dyskinesia would allow for better optimization of levodopa, which would be of significant benefit to PD patients," said Dr. Jacob Sage, MD, Professor of Neurology at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ, the study's Primary Investigator. The data will be presented at the Movement Disorder Society's 13th International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders, June 7-11 in Paris, France. Preclinical data supporting the clinical results will be also presented by Asubio Pharma Co. Ltd. at this meeting.
