Friday, August 15, 2008

First Drug for Huntington's Disease Chorea Approved by the FDA

Xenazine (tetrabenazine) is the first agent approved by the FDA for chorea in Huntington's Disease (HD). A highly selective and reversible centrally-acting dopamine depleting drug, tetrabenazine works by inhibiting a molecule known as VMAT2 (vesicular monoamine transporter 2).

Genetic testing is available for Huntington's Disease, however this gets into many ethical issues because some people don't want to get tested for HD. Well, it's great to see an agent actually approved by the FDA for this neurodegenerative disease.

1 comment:

  1. Thank goodness that there has been a breakthrough of ANY kind with this disease. I can't imagine how horrible it must be to have this disease process.
    NPs Place

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