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Eisai Co. Ltd. and Meiji Seika Pharma Co. Ltd. have received Japanese approval to manufacture and market Equfina tablets for treating certain symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
Equfina, or safinamide mesylate, can now be used to improve wearing-off phenomenon — the return of symptoms in a patient with Parkinson's ahead of the next drug dose, including involuntary muscle movements and immobility.
Meiji Seika is in charge of the manufacturing and marketing approval of Equfina in Japan, while Eisai exclusively sells the therapy.
Parkinson's disease is a condition in which the nervous system becomes progressively damaged, causing tremors, rigidity, slow movement and postural instability. About 200,000 individuals suffer from Parkinson's in Japan, with that number rising due to the nation's aging population.
The approval is based on a phase 2/3 study which showed that Equfina was better than placebo at managing Parkinson's disease in patients who were already taking levodopa and experiencing so-called wearing-off periods, the Japanese drugmakers said.
Therapies containing levodopa are primarily used to treat Parkinson's disease, but the drug eventually begins to wear off as the disease progresses, with symptoms returning before the next dose.

