PHILADELPHIA, USA — An experimental drug for Tourette syndrome (TS) appears to be safe to use in patients with psychiatric comorbidities, according to phase 2b clinical trial results released today at the International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders® in Philadelphia.
Children and adolescents diagnosed with TS can have psychiatric comorbidities such as ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Promisingly, in a previously reported study finding, the dopamine receptor antagonist ecopipam significantly reduced the severity of TS symptoms by 30% based on Yale Global Tic Severity Scale-Total Tic Score, although the question of whether use of this still-under-investigation drug could exacerbate mental disorders remained.
As newly reported by Gilbert and colleagues, no differences in psychiatric condition rating scores were seen between the trial’s ecopipam and placebo groups. For ADHD, the most frequent comorbidity in TS, several measures of condition severity were actually lower, albeit statistically nonsignificant, in the ecopipam group.
“The neuropharmacology of TS has long remained stagnant, and most existing treatments often fail to balance efficacy with tolerability, underscoring the urgent need for newer therapeutic options,” said Christos Ganos, professor of neurology at the University of Toronto. “Since 2014, there have been three published studies on ecopipam: an open-label trial involving 15 adults over 8 weeks; a placebo-controlled crossover study with 38 children and adolescents over 4 weeks; and a 12-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial including 153 children and adolescents. These studies demonstrated clinically meaningful reductions in tics, without relevant safety concerns or changes in TS-typical neuropsychiatric measures, as also shown by the abstract highlighted here.
“This emerging body of research provides a solid foundation for introducing ecopipam as a novel pharmacological agent to treat tics and may motivate further work, both on the pathophysiology and pharmacotherapy of tic disorders and their associations.”
Full text of this abstract will be available at mdsabstracts.org (Reference #631) after the embargo lifts September 27, 2024, 08:00 ET.
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About the 2024 MDS International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders®:
The MDS International Congress is the premier annual event to advance the clinical and scientific discipline of Movement Disorders, including Parkinson’s disease. Convening thousands of leading clinicians, scientists and other health professionals from around the globe, the International Congress will introduce more than 1,800 scientific abstracts and provide a forum for education and collaboration on latest research findings and state-of-the-art treatment options. Learn more at www.mdscongress.org.
About the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society:
The International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society® (MDS), an international society of more than 11,000 clinicians, scientists, and other healthcare professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. For more information about MDS, visit www.movementdisorders.org.