The University of Virginia is working on an accelerated and more comprehensive treatment approach for those afflicted by Parkinson’s — and their latest breakthrough may just be the turning point. In a release on October 27, 2025, the University shared that a new class of treatments has been submitted for approval that could provide relief and restore smooth movement to those who have been affected by the full treatment course. The new treatment may represent a “second honeymoon” for those affected by Parkinson’s.
This comes as a result of ongoing improvements on Grounds. In July 2024, UVA unveiled a comprehensive Parkinson’s disease clinic based on the model of full team care — neurologists and neurosurgeons integrated with therapies, psychologies, and nutrition — that seeks to offer better coordination of treatment options and quick access to infusion therapies. The new comprehensive Parkinson’s disease clinic also houses research efforts that include the goal of reducing emergency visits and improving daily life.
Leadership moves have helped tighten the loop between lab, clinic, and patients. In April 2024, UVA appointed movement disorder specialist and translational neuroscience leader Xuemei Huang, MD, PhD, as chair of Neurology, effective August 1st. Huang previously founded the Translational Brain Research Center at Penn State and brings a long‑standing NIH‑funded track record in neurodegeneration.
All of the above paved the way for the most promising new treatment on the horizon: Tavapadon, an orally administered once-daily tablet that selectively targets the D1 dopamine receptor—a long-held target of theoretical promise to provide relief of levodopa motor symptoms with improved tolerability. The pharmaceutical company, AbbVie, has submitted a New Drug Application to the US Food and Drug Administration as of September 26, 2025. The trial drug seems effective early in the course of the disease or as an add-on to levodopa late in the disease course to gain improved movement time with much fewer dyskinesia symptoms.
The science behind Tavapadon has deep UVA origins. Richard B. Mailman, PhD — now in UVA’s Pharmacology and Neuroscience department — spent decades arguing that earlier dopamine drugs missed the mark by favouring D2‑like receptors. His lab’s work in the 1980s–90s pointed to D1‑like signalling as the engine of levodopa’s best effects. Subsequent studies showed D1‑selective compounds could match levodopa in both animal models and human testing.
These results were difficult to apply to new medicines. The first-generation D1 agonists were injectables and could decrease blood pressure as an adverse reaction when improperly used. The initial trials of the drug involved a safer form of administration and upheld an orally viable form of administration. The project began at Cerevel and later at AbbVie in 2024. The late-stage data offers the hope suggested by the “second honeymoon” nickname. In both trials of TEMPO-1 and TEMPO-2, Tavapadon worked better than placebo on movement symptoms in those diagnosed within three years of trial participation. In trials of TEMPO-3, it was added to levodopa to extend the daily duration of time without dyskinesia.
The most commonly occurring adverse events include nausea, headache, dizziness, and nausea/dyskinesia when added to levodopa. Regarding those being treated and those who treat them, the playing field of medicinal necessity could not be more elevated. The life-extending drug levodopa works as long as the dopamine levels do, but as those levels dwindle by the day, the necessity of it decreases accordingly. The annual requirement of D1 receptor agonism that supports normal function and those with more advanced disease states reaches positive endpoints within early UVA research. The significance of local support on these findings only emphasizes the hurried nature of treatment. Should the FDA give it the green light, Tavapadon would represent the first new class of Parkinson’s drugs in over half a century — perhaps providing motor function once levodopa fails. This would be an important milestone within UVA-bred research and those on the receiving end of the new drug.
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