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MIAMI BEACH, FLA. - A new treatment for Parkinson's disease comes in a patch. Results from a clinical trial presented here show delivery of the dopamine agonist rotigotine through a transdermal patch slows progression of disability over a one-year period.
The novel method of delivery of the drug also provides benefits which could affect the course of the disease.
The study presented here was made up of two six-month-long study periods, one in which the patients were randomized to treatment and one open-label period. The initial six-month-long randomized portion of the trial involved 177 Parkinson's disease patients on rotigotine and 96 on a placebo. Patients were titrated up from 4.5 mg rotigotine a day in a 10 cm^sup 2^ patch to 13.5 mg rotigotine a day in a 30 cm^sup 2^ patch over three weeks. The patients were all in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.
Patients given rotigotine had...