Unknown Manufacturer • Opicapone is indicated as adjunctive therapy in adults with Parkinson’s disease and end-of-dose motor fluctuations or “off” episodes whose symptoms cannot be stabilized on the combination therapy of levodopa and DOPA decarboxylase inhibitor (e.g., carbidopa).
Opicapone is a catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor used as an adjunct treatment for Parkinson's Disease in adults currently receiving levodopa and a dopa decarboxylase inhibitor.
Levodopa (L-Dopa) is the gold standard for managing motor and some non-motor symptoms associated with Parkinson's Disease; however, only a small fraction of administered L-Dopa actually crosses the blood-brain barrier to exert its therapeutic action and patients face the risk of developing end-of-dose motor fluctuations, which reflects the rapid peripheral metabolism of L-dopa by aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). Opicapone is a peripheral, selective, and reversible catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor. It displays a high binding affinity that is in sub-picomolar ranges, resulting in a slow complex dissociation rate constant and long duration of action in vivo. When opicapone is added to the treatment regimen that contains L-Dopa and DOPA decarboxylase inhibitor, opicapone helps to increase the plasma levels and enhance the therapeutic efficacy of L-Dopa.
