Japan’s Kyowa Kirin Co. Ltd. has stopped development of its adenosine A2a receptor antagonist, KW-6356, in Parkinson’s disease. Discovered internally by Kyowa Kirin, KW-6356 was studied in phase II trials in Japan for Parkinson’s disease, with results showing it was “potentially effective in relieving motor and non-motor symptoms both as a monotherapy and in combination with levodopa-containing therapy,” Kyowa said. However, development is now being discontinued after conducting an evaluation of the global regulatory landscape, development hurdles and potential timelines for market entry.
Shares in Addex Therapeutics Ltd. (Zurich:ADXN) dropped 48% June 17 on news that the company had terminated a pivotal phase IIb/III study of dipraglurant as a potential treatment for dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease.
A Massachusetts Institute of Technology-led team has identified distinct midbrain circuits that contributed to both motor and psychiatric symptoms of Parkinson's disease in animal models. Activating the circuits could reverse both types of symptoms.
Microbiome-modulating therapies are increasingly being explored to treat a variety of diseases. However, the market is still in its infancy and a lack of solid regulations remains challenging for companies to overcome, speakers at the BioKorea 2022 said May 11.
Microbiome-modulating therapies are increasingly being explored to treat a variety of diseases. However, the market is still in its infancy and a lack of solid regulations remains challenging for companies to overcome, speakers at the BioKorea 2022 said May 11.
Aspen Neuroscience Inc. has closed a series B financing of $147.5 million. The funds will help get its autologous neuron replacement candidate into a phase I/IIa study for Parkinson’s disease. Privately held Aspen has been talking about initiating the phase I/IIa clinical trial since at least 2019. But in April 2022, it came a lot closer to reality. That’s when the company launched its first patient screening studies at several sites in the U.S. Now, the trial-ready cohort study is designed to screen potential participants for the study.
Abbvie Inc. is stepping away from a 2016 deal with Bioarctic AB to develop alpha-synuclein antibodies for treating Parkinson’s disease, originally valued at up to $775 million. Bioarctic said it plans to stay the course without its big-pocketed partner. Bioarctic’s stock (Stockholm:BIOA-B) fell 14.6% to SEK90 (US$9.40) on April 20.
Boston Scientific Corp.’s image-guided programming software, Vercise Neural Navigator with Stimview XT, got the green light from the FDA for use with the company’s deep brain stimulation (DBS) portfolio in patients with essential tremor or Parkinson’s disease. The software, developed in a collaboration with Brainlab AG, provides more sophisticated image-guided programming tools for personalization of the stimulation therapy, halving the time needed for adjustments and increasing precision.
A research team from the Grenoble Institute for Neuroscience (GIN) recently discovered a blood biomarker capable of detecting the onset of Parkinson's disease (PD) from a very early stage. This discovery represents the findings of a multi-model, translational study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Neuron23 Inc. came out of stealth mode in late 2020 with a $113.5 million combined series A and B round to support its AI-enabled drug discovery effort aimed at bringing a precision medicine approach to neuroimmunology. Now it has added another $100 million in a series C financing as it gears up to move into clinical testing with lead programs targeting LRRK2 and TYK2.
