What the trial was testing
The TEMPO-3 enrolled 507 patients with parkinson's disease. The study was sponsored by AbbVie and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
It was a large trial designed to confirm whether the treatment works well enough for wider use. Trials at this stage are designed to produce evidence regulators and physicians can act on — not just observations to follow up later.
What the results showed
1.1 hours more good on-time per day on tavapadon vs. inactive pill.
JAMA Neurology · 2026 · NCT04542499
These findings — that good on-time per day on tavapadon adjunctive to levodopa in Parkinson's — were published in the JAMA Neurology and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 507 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with parkinson's disease, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
Tavapadon is still in development and not yet FDA-approved as of early 2026. Several other dopamine agonists (pramipexole, ropinirole, rotigotine patch) are FDA-approved and available now for adding to levodopa. Ask a movement disorder specialist about approved options or open trials.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open parkinson's disease trials
Prodromal Alpha-Synuclein Screening in Parkinson's Disease Study
The PASS-PD study is set out to screen individuals from the general population with an increased risk for the development of Parkinson's Disease (PD) and to investigate this highly enriched cohort longitudinally for five year. A special focus is placed on implementation of ethical standards for early risk disclosure in PD.
Home-based Gait and Balance Training in Patients With Movement Disorders
The research project is an experimental study with three study visits at the study site at the University Hospital Düsseldorf (UKD) / Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) and a three-week training phase in a parallel design. Patients with movement disorders (ataxia or Parkinson\'s disease) can take part. The training phase includes individually adapted, targeted, video-based coordination and balance training, which should lead to an improvement in gait and balance. Two different training protocols are carried out in parallel for three weeks each: One with 20 minutes of training per day, four days per week; and one with a training duration of 40 minutes per day, only two days per week. All patients initially take part in a one-week familiarization phase without training and are then randomly assigned to one of the two training protocols or the control group without additional training. In both training phases, the total amount of weekly training time is the same, but the frequency and duration of training sessions per week differs. The patients who were assigned to the control group without additional training can complete the training after their third study visit.