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

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.