Parkinson’s on the PBS
August 7, 2012
THIS month Australians living
with Parkinson’s Disease will have
access to a new drug on the
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme,
Azilect (rasagiline).
The once daily tablet is approved
in Australia for the symptomatic
treatment of idiopathic Parkinson’s
disease as monotherapy or as
adjunct therapy (with concomitant
levodopa/decarboxylase inhibitor
therapy).
Although the precise mechanisms
of the action of the drug are
unknown, it is believed that one
action is related to its MAO-B
inhibitory activity, which causes an
increase in extracellular levels of
dopamine in the striatum.
Thus, the elevated dopamine
level and subsequent increased
dopaminergic activity are likely to
mediate Azilect’s effects seen in
models of dopaminergic motor
dysfunction.
The drug has undergone three
multinational, double-blind,
randomised, placebo-controlled,
clinical studies, involving more than
1,500 patients which together
provided statistically significant
evidence of efficacy, as well as
safety and good tolerability.
At present, around 64,000 Aussies
are living with Parkinson’s.
Last year, an estimated 10,500
new cases were diagnosed.
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