Conditions: Parkinson Disease
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 347
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
This is a phase III, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel group, placebo-controlled study to compare the efficacy of 6-months therapy of ropinirole Prolonged Release (PR) with that of placebo as adjunctive therapy to L-dopa in Parkinson's disease patients not optimally controlled on L-dopa. This study will be conducted in China. Subjects will have total 14 visits over the 26 week duration of the study.

Following screening, eligible subjects will receive study medication during the fourteen day placebo run-in period which they will be instructed to take in addition to their background L-dopa. If subjects are still eligible at the end of the placebo run-in period they will be randomized (1:1) to receive once daily doses of ropinirole PR or identical appearing placebo tablets. Dosing will start at 2 mg ropinirole PR, or placebo equivalent. During the 24 week treatment phase, the subjects dose will be adjusted according to the recommended schedule to achieve symptomatic control. All subjects must be titrated to a minimum dose of 6 mg/day. If sufficient symptomatic control is not achieved or maintained at a dose of 6mg/day of ropinirole PR, the daily dose should be increased by 2mg at weekly or longer intervals up to a dose of 8mg/day.If sufficient symptomatic control is still not achieved or maintained at a dose of 8mg/day of ropinirole PR, the daily dose should be increased by 4mg at two weekly or longer intervals. Further dose titration should not be conducted within the final 8 weeks of the treatment phase. The maximum recommended daily dose is 24mg.

The planned reduction in L-dopa dose will begin once subjects are titrated to Dose Level 4 or Dose Level 5 of study medication. For each increase in study medication, there will be a corresponding decrease in L-dopa. If loss of symptom control occurs with the reduction in the background L-dopa dose, the dose of study medication should be increased to the next higher dose level with no adjustment in the dose of L-dopa. If loss of symptom control persists, subjects should be titrated up an additional dose level. Subjects who do not experience an improvement in symptoms following upward titration by 2 dose levels of study medication, should be "rescued" with L-dopa.

Subjects will be dispensed down-titration medication at the study completion/early withdrawal visit if the patient did not enter extension study and should be scheduled to return for a follow up visit 4 to 14 days after the last dose of study medication. The extension study aim to evaluate the safety profile of ReQuip PR during long-term treatment in subjects with advanced parkinson's disease.

Detailed description:

Arms:
arm 1: Ropinirole PR tablets of 2.0 mg, 4.0mg and 8.0 mg arm 2: Placebo

Interventions: intervention 1: ReQuip PR intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: If subjects are still eligible at the end of the placebo run-in period they will be randomized (1:1) to receive once daily doses of ropinirole PR or identical appearing placebo tablets. Dosing will start at 2 mg ropinirole PR, or placebo equivalent. During the 24 week treatment phase, the subjects dose will be adjusted according to the recommended schedule to achieve symptomatic control. All subjects must be titrated to a minimum dose of 6 mg/day. intervention 2: Placebo

Protocol document: