Safinamide is a candidate drug against Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...

 with multiple methods of action. In 2007, a Phase III clinical trial was started. It is scheduled to run until 2011. The drug will be marketed by Merck-Serono.

Possible additional uses are restless legs syndrome

Restless legs syndrome

Restless legs syndrome or Willis-Ekbom disease is a neurological disorder characterized by an irresistible urge to move one's body to stop uncomfortable or odd sensations. It most commonly affects the legs, but can affect the arms, torso, and even phantom limbs...

 (RLS) and epilepsy

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...

. They were being tested in Phase II trials in 2008, but no results are available.

Parkinson and RLS relevant mechanisms

Safinamide is a monoamine oxidase B inhibitor

Monoamine oxidase inhibitor

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are a class of antidepressant drugs prescribed for the treatment of depression. They are particularly effective in treating atypical depression....

, reducing degradation of dopamine

Dopamine

Dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter present in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this substituted phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five known types of dopamine receptors—D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5—and their...

, and a glutamate release inhibitor. It also seems to inhibit dopamine reuptake

Dopamine reuptake inhibitor

A dopamine reuptake inhibitor is a type of drug that acts as a reuptake inhibitor for the neurotransmitter dopamine by blocking the action of the dopamine transporter...

.

Other mechanisms

Furthermore, safinamide blocks sodium

Sodium channel blocker

Sodium channel blockers are agents that impair conduction of sodium ions through sodium channels.-Extracellular:The following naturally produced substances block sodium channels by binding to and occluding the extracellular pore opening of the channel:...

 and calcium channels

Calcium channel blocker

A calcium channel blocker is a chemical that disrupts the movement of calcium through calcium channels.CCB drugs devised to target neurons are used as antiepileptics. However, the most widespread clinical usage of calcium channel blockers is to decrease blood pressure in patients with...

.