A pump designed for people
living with Parkinson’s*
DOSING
FEATURES
24-HOUR CONTINUOUS DELIVERY
VYALEV is delivered subcutaneously and dosed in milliliters per hour (mL/hr) for a 24-hour continuous infusion. It replaces all levodopa-containing medications, as well as any COMT inhibitors a patient is taking.1†
BROAD DOSING RANGE
The maximum recommended daily dosage of VYALEV is 3525 mg of the foslevodopa component (equivalent to approximately 2500 mg levodopa).1
PRECISE
The VYALEV continuous hourly infusion rate can be adjusted in increments of 0.01 mL/hr (equivalent to approximately 1.7 mg levodopa/hr or 2.4 mg foslevodopa/hr) to meet the unique needs of your patients.1
CUSTOMIZABLE
The VYALEV Pump has optional high/low continuous hourly infusion rates to give patients dosing flexibility throughout their day and an extra dose feature.1
*Patients selected for treatment with VYALEV should be trained on the proper use of the delivery system prior to initiating therapy.1
†Prescribing a backup oral carbidopa and levodopa product is recommended in the event that delivery of VYALEV is interrupted, which may result in underdosing.1
The VYALEV Pump is lightweight (10 oz) and approximately the size of 2 stacked cell phones2
Patients can wear the pump in the way that’s most convenient for them
Patient experience with the VYALEV Pump3,4‡
Methodology
VYALEV patients who transitioned from the phase 3 pivotal trial to the open-label extension and were treated with VYALEV for at least 6 months were interviewed as part of a qualitative research study to understand their experiences with long-term use of the VYALEV Pump, overall satisfaction, and factors impacting satisfaction. Patients (n=19), and their caregivers if appropriate, were interviewed for 60 minutes using a semi-structured interview guide. The semi-structured interview guide included open-ended questions used to encourage spontaneous responses, as well as follow-up probes to capture the research objectives. Responses were qualitatively analyzed.
Rationale:
Qualitative research allows for an in-depth exploration of a research question. The semi-structured interview guide allows the patient's experience to guide the discussion, which ensures that concepts most relevant to the patient are captured. Findings may yield important insights into treatment experience for patients, care partners, and prescribers.
Considerations:
Given that only patients who transitioned from the phase 3 pivotal trial to the open-label extension and were treated with VYALEV for at least 6 months were interviewed, findings may have limited generalizability since patients who are unable to tolerate or do not respond to the drug often drop out. Patients were compensated for their time. Due to the time constraint, not all questions in the interview guide could be asked. Due to the nature of the interview being semi-structured, not all questions were asked in the same manner. Conclusions of statistical significance cannot be drawn.
92% of patients (n=12/13) reported that they were satisfied with treatment administration overall at 6 months§
Patients were asked: How satisfied are you with the treatment administration overall on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is very dissatisfied and 5 is very satisfied?
‡Patients previously treated with deep brain stimulation (DBS) and those with cognitive impairment deemed to interfere with their ability to be interviewed were excluded from this study.
§Satisfaction was defined as reporting a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 5.
Contact a Rep for in-office product demonstrations and educational programs for patients.
COMT=catechol-O-methyltransferase; PD=Parkinson’s disease.