Anna Richo, general counsel and executive vice president of biopharmaceutical company UCB, often uses a narrative style, telling the story of how an innovation can help patients live better with serious diseases, to protect her company’s intellectual property cases in a court of law. Brussels-based Anna Richo used this technique recently to defend a patent for Neupro, a patch that delivers the drug rotigotine to patients with Parkinson’s disease. Parkinson’s disease is a common neurological disorder caused by an interruption in normal dopamine balance in the brain. The brain loses nerve cells that produce dopamine, which causes symptoms including tremors and a loss of motor control. Levodopa or L-dopa is the most common drug prescribed for Parkinson’s, because it helps the brain produce dopamine. Over time, however, it can have side effects such as nausea and fatigue. Rotigotine is a dopamine agonist, which acts like dopamine in the brain but does not cause the same side effects. This class of drugs may have short-term side effects such as dizziness, confusion, or hallucinations, but these tend to resolve over time. There are other drugs and treatments that can help people improve their quality of life while they live with Parkinson’s disease, though researchers don’t yet have a cure or a certain preventative measure. People with Parkinson’s should discuss their options with their doctor to determine the best way to manage their condition.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorAs of November 1, 2012, Anna Richo became Executive Vice President and General Counsel of UCB, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Archives
August 2018
Categories
All
|