Subcutaneous Levodopa Infusion for Parkinson's Disease: 1‐Year Data from the Open‐Label BeyoND Study

BACKGROUND: Continuous, subcutaneous (SC) levodopa/carbidopa infusion with ND0612 is under development as a treatment for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and motor fluctuations. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate 1‐year safety data. METHODS: BeyoND is an open‐label study evaluating the long‐term safety of two ND0612 dosing regimens. RESULTS: Of the 214 enrolled patients (24‐hour SC infusion: n = 90; 16‐hour SC infusion: n = 124), 120 (56%) completed 12 months of treatment. Leading causes for study discontinuation were consent withdrawal (19.6%) and adverse events (17.3%). Rates of discontinuation were reduced from 49% to 29% after a protocol revision and retraining. Systemic safety was typical for PD patients treated with levodopa/carbidopa. Most patients experienced infusion site reactions, particularly nodules (30.8%) and hematoma (25.2%), which were judged mostly mild to moderate and led to discontinuation in only 10.3% of the participants. CONCLUSIONS: Subcutaneous levodopa/carbidopa continuous infusion with ND0612 is generally safe, with typical infusion site reactions for SC delivery as the main adverse event. © 2021 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society