Investigational medicine for Tourette syndrome promising
Medscape highlights UC, Children's researcher's findings
Medscape highlighted new research from the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital's Donald Gilbert that found a new drug reduces tic severity in children and adolescents with Tourette syndrome (TS) without exacerbating common psychiatric comorbidities.
Previous research found the drug called ecopipam reduced the primary endpoint of tic severity scores by 30% compared to placebo after 12 weeks, but it was unknown if the drug would affect the common comorbidities of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression that are often present.
Gilbert, MD, professor in the Department of Pediatrics in UC's College of Medicine and a pediatric movement disorders and Tourette syndrome specialist at Cincinnati Children's Hospital's Division of Neurology, presented his findings at the International Congress of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders 2024.
He told Medscape the two key findings were "first, that patients with a nonmotor diagnosis like depression or ADHD did not do any worse in terms of tic efficacy; and second, we didn't find any evidence that any of the nonmotor symptoms of Tourette's got worse with ecopipam."
Featured photo at top of a model of a brain. Photo/Robina Weermeijer/Unsplash.
Related Stories
Pocket-sized population threat
June 10, 2026
The Financial Times took a deep dive into why populations around the world continue to be on the decline. The publication cited new University of Cincinnati research as part of the investigation that looks at the fall of fertility in the digital era.
Patients with developmental disabilities may benefit with an integrated care model
June 9, 2026
Researchers from the University of Cincinnati and Ohio State University have found that adults with developmental disabilities who have integrated care were less likely to go to the emergency room or be hospitalized than others who were not. Their work was published in Disability and Health Journal.
UC physician-researcher's work yields landmark five-year data for Crohn's disease drug
June 8, 2026
The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine’s Anita Afzali, MD, leads a landmark study revealing five-year efficacy and safety data for a Crohn’s disease drug called guselkumab.