A technology evaluation of CVT-301 (Inbrija): an inhalable therapy for treatment of Parkinson's disease.

: The most widely used pharmacological treatment for Parkinson's disease is levodopa, the precursor for dopamine formation in the brain. Over time, the effectiveness of levodopa declines, and patients experience motor fluctuations, or OFF periods. A levodopa formulation administered via a capsule-based oral inhaler provides a new delivery mechanism for levodopa that provides rapid relief of OFF periods.

Aerosol delivery of dry powder synthetic lung surfactant to surfactant-deficient rabbits and preterm lambs on non-invasive respiratory support.

: The development of synthetic lung surfactant for preterm infants has focused on peptide analogues of native surfactant proteins B and C (SP-B and SP-C). Non-invasive respiratory support with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) may benefit from synthetic surfactant for aerosol delivery. : A total of three dry powder (DP) surfactants, consisting of phospholipids and the SP-B analogue Super Mini-B (SMB), and one negative control DP surfactant without SMB, were produced with the Acorda Therapeutics ARCUS® Pulmonary Dry Powder Technology.

Preclinical and clinical assessment of inhaled levodopa for OFF episodes in Parkinson's disease.

Inhaled drugs offer advantages, such as rapid onset of action, but require formulations and delivery systems that reproducibly and conveniently administer the drug. CVT-301 is a powder formulation of levodopa delivered by a breath-actuated inhaler that has been developed for treating OFF episodes (motor fluctuations between doses of standard oral levodopa) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). We present preclinical, phase 1, and phase 2 results for CVT-301.