In June, Cure Parkinson’s gathered 23 of the world’s leading Parkinson’s experts together for the annual International Linked Clinical Trials (iLCT) meeting. The iLCT committee was created in 2012 through a collaboration between Cure Parkinson’s and Van Andel Institute with the goal of prioritising potential disease-modifying treatments for clinical trial in Parkinson’s.

This year’s meeting was hosted by Cure Parkinson’s at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor. The committee were asked to evaluate 16 dossiers of potentially disease-modifying drugs for Parkinson’s before ranking them based on their suitability and readiness for clinical trial. Amongst the drug evaluation sessions, the committee and observers were presented updates on a number of ongoing and recently completed trials of iLCT prioritised drugs, including the phase 3 trial of ambroxol which we anticipate will begin recruitment towards the end of 2023. Additional comments and questions from the people with Parkinson’s and stakeholders present throughout the evaluation were invaluable for ensuring that scientific evidence and patient priorities remain aligned.

Dr Leah Mursaleen reported the outcome of the first Annual Pipeline Research Acceleration Programme grant call to the committee. This project was developed from previous iLCT committee recommendations for further research into drugs not yet ready for clinical trials. By proactively commissioning the required research Cure Parkinson’s hopes to speed up the generation of data required to provide a stronger case for support. The first pipeline project has been selected and will be carried out by Prof. Michael Schwarzschild at Mass General Hospital in the U.S, evaluating benfotiamine (a form of vitamin B1), methylcobalamin (a form of vitamin B12) and ibuprofen in two laboratory models of Parkinson’s. The results of this project are expected at the beginning of 2025.

There were additional updates from global pioneering Parkinson’s projects such as the Edmund J. Safra Multi-Arm Multi-Stage (MAMS) Project, the Australian Parkinson’s Mission, the UK biomarker study and The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research ‘Path to Prevention’ platform.

There were positive discussions throughout the two day meeting and Cure Parkinson’s thanks all those involved for contributing to this important event.

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The iLCT committee is made up of world-leading experts in Parkinson’s who understandably are very busy people. One sometimes overlooked detail is that each of them generously volunteers their time to come to the iLCT event. Cure Parkinson’s is extremely grateful for such dedication on behalf of the Parkinson’s community.

Dr Simon Stott, Director of Research, Cure Parkinson’s