A diabetes drug in the same class of medicines being widely used to treat obesity appeared to slow progression of early Parkinson’s disease in a mid-stage trial, but with a potentially unacceptable rate of gastrointestinal side effects.
In the French trial, 156 patients with Parkinson’s disease for less than three years who were on stable doses of medications to treat symptoms were given either daily injections of Sanofi’s GLP-1 agonist lixisenatide or a placebo.
After 12 months, the lixisenatide group had essentially no change in scores on a validated tool for assessing Parkinson’s movement disorders, while the placebo group had an 3-point worsening of symptoms on a 199-point scale, according to a report published on Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The 3-point advantage in the treated patients was still evident two months later, researchers found. However, 46% of participants receiving lixisenatide reported nausea, and 13% reported vomiting.
“The incidence of side effects may be a barrier to wider use of lixisenatide for Parkinson’s disease,” Dr. David Standaert of the University of Alabama at Birmingham wrote in an editorial published with the study.
Originally sold under the brand name Adlyxin, Sanofi discontinued sales of the drug in the U.S. at the beginning of 2023.
If a three-point improvement is the most that can be achieved, then the value of lixisenatide may be limited, especially in view of the adverse effects, Standaert said.
However, if the drug keeps patients stable while those untreated worsen by three points a year “over a period of 5 to 10 years or more, then this could be a truly transformative treatment,” Standaert said.
Read more about GLP-1 agonists on Reuters.com
