Researchers at the pharmaceutical company Sun Pharma have published data on their new drug vodobatinib (previously known as KO706) that is being clinically tested in people with Parkinson’s.
C-ABL is a protein in cells that becomes over active when cells are stressed, and this hyperactivity has been associated with cell death. Higher levels of c-ABL have been found in the brains of people with Parkinson’s and researchers have been developing drugs to target c-ABL and dampen down its overactivity, hoping that this will potentially slow down the progression of the condition.
Cure Parkinson’s has previously supported a clinical trial testing the c-ABL inhibitor nilotinib in people with Parkinson’s, however nilotinib did not access the brain in sufficient amount to be effective. Sun Pharma, applying the learnings of the nilotinib trial, have designed new c-ABL inhibitor drugs that have a better ability to access the brain; they have now published data that demonstrates their new c-ABL inhibitor vodobatinib is able to access the brain in sufficient levels to be more effective than nilotinib.
Vodobatinib is currently being tested in a phase 2 clinical trial involving 504 people with Parkinson’s, and we hope to see the results of that study in 2024.
