Cynapsus Therapeutics are currently in stage 3 of trials testing their Apomorphine drug and I could refer to it as a ‘successful failure’. The drug itself does not work for everyone, but for those that do respond positively, it is very very good (I know because I use it myself). The ‘failure’, if you can call it that, is not the drug itself but the delivery system – a pen similar to a diabetic’s pen with tiny needles to inject yourself. At times the injection is hardly felt but at other times it feels like a beesting – that and the acidity of the drug make long-term injections likely to leave scar tissue behind.

So, what does Apomorphine do? Well, despite its name there is no narcotic affect so no fun to balance with the pain! The drug is a very fast acting medicine for changing an ‘off’ state to an ‘on’ state – in my own case it averages 5 minutes to take me from a slumped basket case in the mornings to fully switched-on and good to go! It is a subcutaneous rescue therapy (and it has rescued me quite a few times now when I have gone off while out and about) injecting into skin and fat and it is this delivery system which will hopefully be replaced by the current trial version – a sublingual strip that dissolves under your tongue.

There are 2 studies planned – the first will require 126 volunteers for 12 weeks (eligible if you go off at least once each day with a total off time of at least 2 hours daily). After the 12 weeks the participants can join the second study which will require 226 volunteers for 6 months with the same eligibility criteria (The Michael J Fox Foundation will be running a sub-study using a smartphone app to collect data).

The 12 week trial seems to be all in the USA however the 6 month trial is recruiting in the UK as well – the trial number is NCT02542696 and the list following below is for anyone who may be interested in volunteering:

MC