Intec Pharma Ltd. (TASE: INTP) today announced positive interim results in the Phase IIb clinical trial of its Levodopa accordion pill treatment for Parkinson's disease. Intec Pharma's accordion pill greatly increases the effectiveness of regular drugs. The company added that the improvement was even greater than the improvement achieved in the first group of patients, and greatly reduced the daily dosage of the Levodopa pill currently on the market.
The safety and efficacy trial included 17 patients with advanced Parkinson's disease at six Israeli medical centers. The patients received the Levodopa accordion pill over three weeks and the current Levodopa pill for three more weeks (crossover treatment), using the treatment regime for each patient.
The trial's primary endpoint of the Levodopa accordion pill, compared with the current pill, was a substantial reduction of the patients' motor disability (off time). The trial found a 44% reduction - 1.9 hours - in off time to an average of 2.4 hours for the accordion pill compared with 4.3 hours for the regular pill.
The off time was double what was achieved in the first group of patients in the trial.
Intec Pharma's share price rose 7.4% by midday to NIS 1.56, giving a market cap of NIS 250 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 17, 2011
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