Huntexil (Neurosearch) trial suggests it is well tolerated and may offer benefits for patients with Huntington's Disease

A new study suggests that Huntexil (pridopidine), from Neurosearch, is well tolerated and warrants further study in patients with Huntington's disease (HD). Until now, no drug has been shown to improve the loss of the ability to move muscles voluntarily, and the only drug currently approved for HD, tetrabenazine, treats only chorea (involuntary movements) and is associated with serious side-effects. However findings from a phase II study suggested that Huntexil improved voluntary motor function without worsening chorea. Now a team led by Justo Garcia de Yebenes from the Hospital Ram�n y Cajal in Madrid, Spain, conducted a Phase III trial to assess the potential efficacy and safety of Huntexil as a treatment of HD motor symptoms. 437 patients were randomly assigned to take Huntexil (45 mg once daily or 45 mg twice daily) or placebo for 26 weeks. After 6 months of treatment, the difference in average mMS score (modified motor score designed to measure 10 items relating to voluntary movements) between the groups was not significant. However, in further analysis, Huntexil treatment resulted in improvement in total motor function (specifically in eye movements, hand movements, dystonia, and gait and balance) as measured by unified Huntington's disease rating scale total motor score in patients taking the higher dose of Huntexil compared with those given placebo. Further analyses that included only patients who completed all study visits and had drug compliance greater than 70% also showed a significant benefit for the higher dose of Huntexil. Huntexil was well tolerated and had a similar side-effect profile to placebo. See: "Pridopidine for the treatment of motor function in patients with Huntington�s disease (MermaiHD): a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial" Justo Garcia de Yebenes et al. The Lancet Neurology Published Online: November 8, 2011 DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(11)70233-2