Singapore start-up plans clinical trial of a single daily pill replacing multiple pills for Parkinson’s disease
Materials scientists from NTU Singapore have developed a new pill which uses the stomach as a drug reservoir and delivers medicines slowly over time to patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Parkinson’s disease is a neuro-degenerative disorder which can be treated with Levodopa (L-dopa) taken orally. L-dopa is turned into dopamine by the human body, a chemical which is needed by the brain to relay signals needed for muscle control.
An NTU-incubated start-up is now commercialising this new slow-release pill that delivers L-dopa over a period of 24 hours, which could help to alleviate these symptoms. The start-up, called LiberaTx, aims to use the new pill to tackle LID and low drug compliance by patients, in which they fail to take the multiple pills of L-dopa prescribed daily.