Safinamide for the treatment of Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Non-dopaminergic neurotransmitter systems are also involved in its pathomechanism. The aim of the treatment is to improve the dopamine-deficient state and to alleviate the motor and the non-motor symptoms. Safinamide is an α-aminoamide derivative with a combined, dopaminergic and non-dopaminergic mode of action. Phase III clinical trials with safinamide, as add-on therapy to a dopamine agonist (DAA) and to levodopa (LD) in early and advanced stage PD, respectively, demonstrated an improvement of the motor symptoms.Areas covered: The review discusses the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of safinamide and provides an overview of the clinical trials conducted with safinamide in PD. A literature search was made in PubMed for safinamide, safinamide pharmacokinetics, PD treatment and monoamine oxidase-B inhibitors, and in PubMed and on the ClinicalTrials.gov site for clinical trials with safinamide in PD.Expert opinion: The place of safinamide in the therapy of PD is yet to be determined. However, the authors believe that safinamide is a valuable drug in the treatment of PD treatment with favorable pharmacokinetic and side-effect profiles. Data so far suggest that it can be used beneficially as add-on therapy both to DAAs in early PD and to LD in the later stages of the disease.