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Review
. 2021 Jun 10:15:2507-2517.
doi: 10.2147/DDDT.S302673. eCollection 2021.

The Current Evidence for the Use of Safinamide for the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease

Giovanni Abbruzzese  1 , Paolo Barone  2 , Leonardo Lopiano  3 , Fabrizio Stocchi  4
Affiliations
Review

The Current Evidence for the Use of Safinamide for the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease

Giovanni Abbruzzese et al. Drug Des Devel Ther. .

Abstract

Introduction: Parkinson's therapeutic interventions are only symptomatic. An optimal treatment should therefore address the largest number of motor and non-motor symptoms, to manage patients at best. Safinamide is one of the most recent approved drugs for fluctuating patients, in add-on to levodopa, that remains the gold standard treatment. It has a unique mechanism of action, both dopaminergic (as MAO-B inhibitor) and glutamatergic (through Na+ channel blockade). Results from Phase III trials, post-hoc analyses and real-life experiences suggest a beneficial effect on motor (such as tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity and gait) and non-motor (pain, mood, sleep) symptoms.

Areas covered: Here, the authors discuss clinical efficacy and safety of safinamide, identifying the patients' profiles that could benefit most. A search in PubMed was performed in September 2020, with no time limits. Publications' abstracts were reviewed.

Conclusion: Safinamide is peculiar due to its double mechanism of action. Its benefits in improving motor functions and fluctuations, and some non-motor symptoms, could have a valuable impact on patients' quality of life (QoL), together with its safety profile.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; glutamate; motor fluctuations; safinamide.

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Conflict of interest statement

Prof. Dr Paolo Barone reports grants from Zambon, during the conduct of the study. Prof. Dr Fabrizio Stocchi reports personal fees from Zambon pharma, outside the submitted work. The authors report no other potential conflicts of interest for this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study 018: safinamide reduced DRS scores in patients with baseline scores >4 (post-hoc analysis).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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