The International Linked Clinical Trials (iLCT) programme is the flagship drug repurposing initiative of Cure Parkinson’s and Van Andel Institute (VAI) focussed on identifying and clinically testing already available drugs that show potential to slow, stop or reverse the progression of Parkinson’s.

Every year the iLCT committee, of over 20 Parkinson’s specialists, meets to discuss the progress of current iLCT clinical trials and importantly, debates a set of newly collated dossiers outlining current medical knowledge on a range of novel treatments which show potential for Parkinson’s. Once drugs are prioritised by the committee, Cure Parkinson’s is mandated to then take them into clinical trials. 

The pandemic has meant that the recent iLCT meetings have been virtual, however this has not diminished the determination and enthusiasm of the committee members to progress their objectives. The committee met in October and prioritised new drug candidates to move to clinical trials.

Approximately half of the dossiers assessed at the recent meeting were of novel therapeutics that are being developed by biotech companies (under strict non-disclosure conditions) . The remainder focused on molecules that offer potential to be repurposed in clinical trials for Parkinson’s.

In summary, five agents were prioritised by the committee at this iLCT meeting; Cure Parkinson’s will now focus all effort into advancing each of these into clinical testing.

Here, Dr Simon Stott presents his 2021 update on current iLCT trials and those about to begin.

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Very sadly, iLCT committee member Professor M. Flint Beal died in June 2021.  Flint was former chair of the Department of Neurology and Neuroscience at Weill Cornell Medicine, and neurologist-in-chief at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and the University Professor of Neuroscience in the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medicine.  He was an internationally recognised leader in neurology and neurodegenerative disorders and one of the greatest clinician-scientists of his generation. 

Flint was an incredibly valued member of the iLCT Committee.  Many a time we would ask a question on some detail around a compound and he would open his cerebral encyclopaedia and so generously share his incredible wealth of knowledge.  He is greatly missed and has left a lasting impact as so many of the compounds we discuss have passed through his sphere of influence.

Professor Patrik Brundin, iLCT Committee Chair