EAN 2022 | Assessing the benefits of using opicapone in early-stage PD

Angelo Antonini, MD, PhD, University of Padua, Padua, Italy, describes an investigation of the effect of opicapone in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients who are at early stage of motor fluctuations. The study design includes patients starting opicapone at the very beginning of the motor fluctuation phase when they are only taking three doses of levodopa per day. Since opicapone is the most potent catechol-o-methyl-transferase (COMT) inhibitor, researchers want to demonstrate that opicapone once daily can extend the half-life of levodopa and eventually support its more continuous delivery. Prof. Antonini would also want to look at the improvement in motor OFF phenotypes as well as non-motor OFF symptoms, such as pain, anxiety, and depression. This interview took place at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) 2022 Congress in Vienna, Austria.