Safety and Efficacy of AVP-923 in PBA Patients With ALS or MS

Completed · Phase 3 · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA)

In brief

Objectives of the study are to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of two different doses of AVP-923 (capsules containing either 30 mg of dextromethorphan hydrobromide and 10 mg of quinidine sulfate \[AVP-923-30\] or 20 mg of dextromethorphan hydrobromide and 10 mg of quinidine sulfate \[AVP-923-20\]) when compared to placebo, for the treatment of PBA in a population of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or multiple sclerosis (MS) over a 12-week period. An additional objective is to determine the pharmacokinetic parameters of the two different doses of AVP-923 in a subset of the study population. Pseudobulbar Affect (PBA) is a condition characterized by involuntary, sudden and frequent episodes of laughing and/or crying out of proportion or incongruous to the underlying emotion of happiness or sadness Other terms used to describe this condition include emotional lability, emotionalism, emotional incontinence, emotional discontrol, excessive emotionalism, and pathological laughing and crying. The outbursts can occur spontaneously or in response to provocative stimuli such as questions or events. A body of evidence suggests that PBA can be modulated through pharmacologic intervention. Dextromethorphan (DM) is a low-affinity uncompetitive antagonist of the N-Methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, reducing the level of excitatory activity. DM also acts at the phencyclidine-binding site, which is part of the NMDA receptor complex. DM is a sigma receptor agonist, suppressing the release of excitatory neurotransmitters. Quinidine (Q) is a known potent inhibitor of cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6), that decreases the metabolism of dextromethorphan and helps to achieve sustained and therapeutic levels of this drug.

Key facts

Study ID
NCT00573443
Run by
Avanir Pharmaceuticals
People needed
326
Starts
2007-12-01
Expected to finish
2009-09-01
Last updated by the study team
2017-04-12

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 80. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

Where it is running

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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