Drug Overview
AbbVie’s Duopa, a continuous intestinal infusion of a carbidopa plus levodopa gel, is indicated for the treatment of advanced-stage idiopathic Parkinson’s disease with motor fluctuations that cannot be treated with oral therapies. The formulation of carbidopa (5mg/ml) and levodopa (20mg/ml) in an aqueous gel made of carboxymethylcellulose is administered by a duodenal/jejunal tube via a portable exterior pump. Motor fluctuations and dyskinesias in advanced Parkinson’s disease are partly related to variations in levodopa plasma concentrations, and Duopa’s intestinal infusion was developed to provide continuous levodopa administration as it bypasses limitations on system absorption, resulting in more stable plasma concentrations and clinical responses.
Duopa was first approved in the EU in 2004, but AbbVie was not able to secure US Food and Drug Administration approval until over a decade later in January 2015. Approval in Japan followed shortly after, in August 2016.
AbbVie’s Duopa, a continuous intestinal infusion of a carbidopa plus levodopa gel, is indicated for the treatment of advanced-stage idiopathic Parkinson’s disease with motor fluctuations that cannot be treated with oral therapies. The formulation of carbidopa (5mg/ml) and levodopa (20mg/ml) in an aqueous gel made of carboxymethylcellulose is administered by a duodenal/jejunal tube via a portable exterior pump. Motor fluctuations and dyskinesias in advanced Parkinson’s disease are partly related to variations in levodopa plasma concentrations, and Duopa’s intestinal infusion was developed to provide continuous levodopa administration as it bypasses limitations on system absorption, resulting in more stable plasma concentrations and clinical responses.
Duopa was first approved in the EU in 2004, but AbbVie was not able to secure US Food and Drug Administration approval until over a decade later in January 2015. Approval in Japan followed shortly after, in August 2016.
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