A potential once-weekly injectable treatment for managing Parkinson’s disease symptoms could be an alternative to multiple daily tablets. 

University of SA researchers have developed a long-acting formulation and drug delivery technique that can provide a steady dose of levodopa and carbidopa over days or even weeks.

It uses a biodegradable polymer with levodopa and carbidopa, injected under the skin or into muscle tissue, where it forms a gel-like structure known as an “in situ forming implant” to release the medication gradually over seven days.

“Levodopa is the gold-standard therapy for Parkinson’s, but its short life span means it must be taken several times a day,” said lead researcher Professor Sanjay Garg, co-director of the Centre for Pharmaceutical Innovation.