FDA approves Newron's drug as add-on therapy for Parkinson's

Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA

21/03/2017 19:53

March 21 (Reuters) - Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA  NWRN.S  
said on Tuesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved 
its Parkinson's disease treatment Xadago as an add-on therapy to 
levodopa, a drug widely used to treat the disease. 
    Levodopa was developed in the late 1960s and is the 
first-line treatment for the management of Parkinson's, 
according to the National Parkinson Foundation. 
    Xadago received European approval in 2015, and has been 
launched by Newron's parnter Zambon SpA in several countries 
including Germany, Italy Spaion and UK.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nBw4bwptza 
    The FDA rejected Xadago last year, but later said Newron was 
not required to perform any studies to evaluate the safety 
profile of the drug.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N1AC1XN 
    Parkinson's disease is the second-most common chronic 
progressive neurodegenerative disorder in the elderly after 
Alzheimer's disease. Parkinson's affects an estimated 7-10 
million patients worldwide, of whom 1 million are in the United 
States. 
 
 (Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by 
Saumyadeb Chakrabarty) 
 ((Akankshita.Mukhopadhyay@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 
646 223 8780, outside U.S. +91 80 6749 0010; ; Reuters 
Messaging: 
akankshita.mukhopadhyay.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: NEWRON FDA/