On 2014 May 13, David Keller commented:

Call for the patent holders of exenatide to help advance Parkinson's research & also profit

Follow-up data gathered a year after the end of the original study strengthens the suggestion that exenatide may have slowed down the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Think how much more convincing these results would be if exenatide had been tested in a double-blinded and placebo-controlled fashion. The authors of the original study wrote that the reason they conducted an open label study with no placebo was that they were unable to procure a suitable placebo, which would have required the manufacturer of Byetta (exenatide) to supply the pen injector devices filled with saline solution.

A recent meta-analysis found that Parkinson patients treated with active drug had significantly less objectively measured motor response to the same intervention if they knew there was a chance that they were receiving placebo, even with effective double blinding (1). This decreased response, dubbed "the lessebo effect", could account for up to 4.1 UPDRS units of motor improvement for patients in studies lacking double-blinded placebo controls.

Astra-Zeneca and Bristol-Myers-Squibb should supply these and other scientists with placebo Byetta or Bydureon injector devices, filled with sterile normal saline, to facilitate further research. This would help to advance investigation of exenatide as possibly the first proven disease-modifying medication for PD, which would be of tremendous benefit not only for PD patients, but for the stock-holders of the companies which own the patents on exenatide. This is truly a chance for these companies to do well while doing good.

Reference

1) Mestre TA, Shah P, Marras C, Tomlinson G, Lang AE. Another face of placebo: The lessebo effect in Parkinson disease: Meta-analyses. Neurology. 2014 Apr 22;82(16):1402-9. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000340. Epub 2014 Mar 21. PubMed PMID: 24658930; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4001195.

On 2014 May 13, David Keller commented:

Call for the patent holders of exenatide to help advance Parkinson's research & also profit

Follow-up data gathered a year after the end of the original study strengthens the suggestion that exenatide may have slowed down the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Think how much more convincing these results would be if exenatide had been tested in a double-blinded and placebo-controlled fashion. The authors of the original study wrote that the reason they conducted an open label study with no placebo was that they were unable to procure a suitable placebo, which would have required the manufacturer of Byetta (exenatide) to supply the pen injector devices filled with saline solution.

A recent meta-analysis found that Parkinson patients treated with active drug had significantly less objectively measured motor response to the same intervention if they knew there was a chance that they were receiving placebo, even with effective double blinding (1). This decreased response, dubbed "the lessebo effect", could account for up to 4.1 UPDRS units of motor improvement for patients in studies lacking double-blinded placebo controls.

Astra-Zeneca and Bristol-Myers-Squibb should supply these and other scientists with placebo Byetta or Bydureon injector devices, filled with sterile normal saline, to facilitate further research. This would help to advance investigation of exenatide as possibly the first proven disease-modifying medication for PD, which would be of tremendous benefit not only for PD patients, but for the stock-holders of the companies which own the patents on exenatide. This is truly a chance for these companies to do well while doing good.

Reference

1) Mestre TA, Shah P, Marras C, Tomlinson G, Lang AE. Another face of placebo: The lessebo effect in Parkinson disease: Meta-analyses. Neurology. 2014 Apr 22;82(16):1402-9. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000340. Epub 2014 Mar 21. PubMed PMID: 24658930; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4001195.