Safety and Efficacy of Pimavanserin in Adults With Parkinson's Disease and Depression

An Open-label, 8-Week Study of Safety and Efficacy of Pimavanserin Treatment in Adults With Parkinson's Disease and Depression

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of pimavanserin for the treatment of depression in adults with Parkinson's disease.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Treatment of Depression in Adults With Parkinson's Disease (PD)
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Pimavanserin

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 47
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Costa Mesa, California, United States, 92626
      • ATP Clinical Research, Inc.
    • Fountain Valley, California, United States, 92708
      • The Parkinson's and Movement Disorder Institute
    • Pasadena, California, United States, 91105
      • SC3 Research-Reseda
    • Pomona, California, United States, 91767
      • The Neurology Group
    • Reseda, California, United States, 91335
      • SC3 Research-Reseda
    • Torrance, California, United States, 90502
      • CNS Network
  • Connecticut
    • Danbury, Connecticut, United States, 06810
      • Associated Neurologists, P.C.
  • Florida
    • Boca Raton, Florida, United States, 33486
      • Parkinson's Disease And Movement Disorder Center Of Boca Raton
    • Gainesville, Florida, United States, 32607
      • University of Florida
    • Port Charlotte, Florida, United States, 33980
      • Parkinson's Disease Treatment Center of SW Florida
    • Sunrise, Florida, United States, 33351
      • Infinity Clinical Research, LLC
    • Tallahassee, Florida, United States, 32308
      • Tallahassee Neurological Clinic, P.A.
  • Michigan
    • Plymouth, Michigan, United States, 48170
      • SRI Biosciences, Clinical Trials and Strategic Development Services
  • Missouri
    • Saint Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
      • Washington University School of Medicine
  • New Jersey
    • Toms River, New Jersey, United States, 08755
      • Bio Behavioral Health
  • New York
    • Albany, New York, United States, 12208
      • Albany Medical College
    • Commack, New York, United States, 11725
      • David L. Kreitzman, MD, PC
  • North Carolina
    • Asheville, North Carolina, United States, 28806
      • Asheville Neurology Specialists, PA
  • Pennsylvania
    • Johnstown, Pennsylvania, United States, 15904
      • Neurology/Neurophysiology
  • Washington
    • Kirkland, Washington, United States, 98034
      • Booth Gardner Parkinson's Care Center
    • Spokane, Washington, United States, 99202
      • Inland Northwest Research

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 50 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Can understand and provide signed informed consent, request for medical records and/or subject privacy form if applicable according to local regulations

2. Has a clinical diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease with a minimum duration of 1 year, defined as the presence of at least three of the following cardinal features, in the absence of alternative explanations or atypical features:

   1. rest tremor
   2. rigidity
   3. bradykinesia and/or akinesia
   4. postural and gait abnormalities
3. Meets clinical criteria for depression with Parkinson's disease as listed in the NINDS/NIMH Guidelines
4. If currently taking an anti-depressant, is being treated with only one SSRI or SNRI antidepressant at a dose within the US FDA-approved dose range. Subjects who are currently taking a second antidepressant or antidepressant augmentation agent at a sub-therapeutic dose or for an inadequate duration at Screening, and can be discontinued from this agent before the Baseline visit (in the opinion of the Investigator), may be eligible for the study.
5. Is on a stable dose of anti-Parkinson's medication for 1 month prior to Screening
6. If the subject is female, she must be of non-childbearing potential or agree to use two methods of clinically acceptable contraception

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Use of an antipsychotic within 3 weeks or 5 half-lives of Baseline (whichever is longer)
2. Had a myocardial infarction within the 6 months prior to Screening
3. Has a known personal or family history or symptoms of long QT syndrome
4. Evidence of severe or medically significant hepatic or renal impairment on laboratory tests as assessed by the Investigator or Medical Monitor
5. Has a history of PD psychosis, schizophrenia, or other psychotic disorder, or bipolar I or II disorder.
6. Actively suicidal at Visit 1 (Screening) or Visit 2 (Baseline)
7. Is pregnant or breastfeeding
8. Has previously been treated with pimavanserin or is currently taking pimavanserin
9. Has a sensitivity to pimavanserin or its excipients
10. Is judged by the Investigator or the Medical Monitor to be inappropriate for the study

Additional inclusion/exclusion criteria apply. Subjects will be evaluated at screening to ensure that all criteria for study participation are met.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Drug - pimavanserin	Drug: Pimavanserin; Pimavanserin 34 mg total daily dose, tablets, once daily by mouth (provided as two 17 mg NUPLAZID® tablets)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline to Week 8 in HAMD-17 (Hamilton Depression Scale -17 Items) Total Score	The HAMD-17 is a multiple-item questionnaire to assess the severity of depression, including items of mood, feelings of guilt, suicide ideation, insomnia, agitation or retardation, anxiety, weight loss, and somatic symptoms. Each of the 17 items is scored on a 3- or 5-point scale (depending on the item). The minimum total score is 0; the maximum total score is 52. A higher total score signifies more severe depression.	From baseline to Week 8

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline (CFB) in HAMD-17 Total Score at Weeks 2, 4, and 6	The HAMD-17 is a multiple-item questionnaire to assess the severity of depression, including items of mood, feelings of guilt, suicide ideation, insomnia, agitation or retardation, anxiety, weight loss, and somatic symptoms. Each of the 17 items is scored on a 3- or 5-point scale (depending on the item). The minimum total score is 0; the maximum total score is 52. A higher total score signifies more severe depression.	2, 4, and 6 weeks from baseline
Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I)	The CGI-I is a clinician-rated 7-point scale to rate the improvement in the patient's depression at the time of assessment relative baseline. The CGI-I ranges from 1 (very much improved) to 7 (very much worse)	At Week 8
Change From Baseline (CFB) in Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S)	The CGI-S is a clinician-rated 7-point scale to rate the severity of the patient's depression at the time of assessment. The CGI-S ranges from 1 (normal) to 7 (patient is among the most severely ill).	From baseline to Week 8
Change From Baseline (CFB) in Scale of Outcomes in PD-Sleep Scale (SCOPA) Nighttime Sleep (NS)Score	The SCOPA-NS subscale addresses problems in nighttime sleep and consists of 5 items (sleep initiation, sleep fragmentation, sleep efficiency, sleep duration, early wakening). Each item has 4 response options (ranging from 0=not at all to 3=a lot). The SCOPA-NS score ranges from 0 to 15, with a higher score indicating more severe nighttime sleep problems.	From baseline to Week 8
Change From Baseline (CFB) in SCOPA Daytime Sleepiness (DS) Score	The SCOPA-DS subscale addresses problems in daytime sleepiness and consists of 6 items (falling asleep unexpectedly, falling asleep peacefully, falling asleep watching TV/reading, falling asleep while talking to someone, having difficulty staying awake, whether falling asleep in the daytime is considered a Problem). Each item has 4 response options (from 0=never to 3=often). The SCOPA-DS subscale score ranges from 0 to 18, with a higher score indicating more severe DS problems.	From baseline to Week 8
The Number (or Percentage) of Responders	The HAMD-17 is a multiple-item questionnaire to assess the severity of depression, including items of mood, feelings of guilt, suicide ideation, insomnia, agitation or retardation, anxiety, weight loss, and somatic symptoms. Each of the 17 items is scored on a 3- or 5-point scale (depending on the item). The minimum total score is 0; the maximum total score is 52. A higher total score signifies more severe Depression. Response was defined as ≥50% reduction from baseline in HAMD-17 total score. Patients without Week-8 score were counted as nonresponders.	From baseline to Week 8
Change From Baseline in EuroQol-5 Dimensions-5 Levels (EQ-5D-5L)	The EQ-5D-5L is a standardized measure of health status. The questionnaire consists of 2 components: the EQ-5D-5L descriptive system and the EQ-5D-5L Visual Analogue scale (EQ-5D-5L VAS). The descriptive system consists of 5 dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression). Each dimension has 5 levels (from 1=no problem to 5=extreme Problems). The digits for the 5 dimensions are combined into a 5-digit code that describes the patient's health state, which is then converted into a single summary index value. Health state index scores generally range from less than 0 (where 0 is the value of a health state equivalent to dead; negative values representing values as worse than dead) to 1 (the value of full health), with higher scores indicating higher health utility. The EQ-5D-5L VAS records the patient's health on a vertical visual analogue scale, ranging from 100 (=the best health you can imagine) to 0 (=the worst health you can imagine).	From baseline to Week 8

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• DeKarske D, Alva G, Aldred JL, Coate B, Cantillon M, Jacobi L, Nunez R, Norton JC, Abler V. An Open-Label, 8-Week Study of Safety and Efficacy of Pimavanserin Treatment in Adults with Parkinson's Disease and Depression. J Parkinsons Dis. 2020;10(4):1751-1761. doi: 10.3233/JPD-202058.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 9, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 9, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): July 24, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 23, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 23, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): March 29, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 31, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 14, 2020
• Last Verified: August 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Mental Disorders; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Mood Disorders; Parkinsonian Disorders; Basal Ganglia Diseases; Movement Disorders; Synucleinopathies; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Depression; Depressive Disorder; Parkinson Disease; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Neurotransmitter Agents; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Central Nervous System Depressants; Antipsychotic Agents; Tranquilizing Agents; Psychotropic Drugs; Serotonin Agents; Serotonin 5-HT2 Receptor Antagonists; Serotonin Antagonists; Antiparkinson Agents; Anti-Dyskinesia Agents; Pimavanserin
• Other Study ID Numbers: ACP-103-048

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No