Deutetrabenazine for the treatment of Huntington’s chorea

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Huntington’s disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disorder for which no disease-modifying treatment is currently available. Only symptomatic treatment can be offered. Chorea is the most common motor manifestation of HD and may interfere with daily activities, reduce quality of life, and cause injury.

Areas covered: Deutetrabenazine is the first deuterated drug and second drug after tetrabenazine, the classic vesicular monoamine transporter type 2 (VMAT2) inhibitor, to receive approval for the treatment of chorea associated with HD. This review, based largely on a detailed PubMed search, will summarize the pharmacological properties, clinical evidence of efficacy and tolerability of deutetrabenazine in the treatment of HD chorea.

Expert commentary: Due to differences in pharmacology and pharmacokinetics, deutetrabenazine has shown promise that it is at least as effective as tetrabenazine in the treatment of HD chorea but has a lower risk of adverse effects. The role of VMAT2 inhibitors in the treatment of hyperkinetic movement disorders is expanding due to their efficacy and favorable tolerability profiles.

KEYWORDS:

• Deutetrabenazine
• tetrabenazine
• VMAT2
• Huntington’s disease
• chorea

Declaration of interest

J Jankovic has received research and/or training grants from Adamas Pharmaceuticals Inc, Allergan Inc., CHDI Foundation, Cividas/Acorda Therapeutics, Dystonia Coalition, Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, F-Hoffman La Roche Ltd., Huntington Study Group, Medtronic Neuromodulation, Merz Pharmaceuticals, Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson Research, National Institutes of Health, Neurocrine Biosciences, Parkinson’s Foundation, Nuvelution, Parkinson Study Group, Pfizer Inc., Prothena Bioscience Inc., Psyadon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Revance Therapeutics Inc., and Teva Pharmaceutical Industriesor Ltd. He has served on advisory or data monitoring committees or as a consultant for Adamas Pharmaceuticals Inc., Allergan Inc., Merz Pharmaceuticals, Prothena Biosciences Inc., Retrophin, Inc-Parexel, Revance Therapeutics Inc., and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. He has received royalties from Cambridge, Elsevier, Future Science Group, Hodder Arnold, Medlink, Neurology, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, and Wiley Blackwell. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.