Our Research Update Meeting took place at the Royal Society of Medicine where we welcomed our many supporters to presentations of some of our funded research.
The Cure Parkinson’s team and others from the Parkinson’s community met in this informal in-person meeting.
Theme: Repurposing and repositioning drugs for Parkinson’s
Followed by the Cure Parkinson’s research team: The latest news updates from our clinical trials programme – the International Linked Clinical Trials initiative.
AGENDA
Professor Oliver Bandmann – UDCA – the discovery and assessment of this promising drug for Parkinson’s followed by audience Q&A session
Outstanding audience questions below that, due to time constraints, were not covered by Prof. Bandmann in our live broadcast:
You mentioned a couple of candidates of drugs as potential top performers including UDCA. What is the second one? Telmisartan and Terazosin
UDCA is obviously in the top spot. Is that because it is the drug that has the best chance of curing people with Parkinson’s? I presented on UDCA because of our collective interest in this compound. We do think it’s a highly promising compound but only time – and large trials(!) – will tell whether it can slow down the progression of Parkinson’s. I personally wouldn’t talk about “curing PwP” – if we could just arrest the illness at an early stage, that would be great!
Will patients who sign up for MAMS be given a choice of drugs to take on the trial?Unfortunately, this will not be possible since it would affect the blinding which is absolutely crucial for such a trial.
Video poster presentations:
The UK Parkinson’s Disease Clinical Studies Group – Emma Davies
Repurposing anti-gout medications for Parkinson’s – Rachel Hughes
Georgia Mills, Research Project Manager, UCL – The EJS-ACT-PD multi-arm, multi-stage clinical trials platform followed by an interactive discussion
Cure Parkinson’s research update 2023 – Dr Simon Stott, Director of Research, followed by a general Q& A session
Outstanding audience questions not covered in our live broadcast:
Has evidence been found of a relationship between Parkinson’s and any imbalance in the gut microbiome? The data published thus far indicates that many people with Parkinson’s have imbalance in the composition of their gut bacteria. There appears to be an overabundance of bacteria associated with inflammation. Determining the exact relationship between the gut and Parkinson’s has been hampered though, as there is a great deal of variability in the available data. This has led to the idea that there may be some people in the Parkinson’s-affected community who may fall into a group that are more affected by their gut than others.
Are there any research studies focusing on ‘late-onset’ (aged 70+) diagnosis? All of the current studies supported by Cure Parkinson’s include people over 70 years of age. For example, the on-going exenatide Phase 3 study has a broad age eligibility criteria of 25 – 80 years of age. Likewise, the ASPro-PD (ambroxol) Phase 3 study will have an age eligibility criteria of 40 – 75 years of age.
Is there any information regarding the use of the liquid probiotic Symprove for people with Parkinson’s? The results of a Parkinson’s UK-supported clinical trial examining Symprove in people with Parkinson’s are currently being prepared for publication. They will hopefully be available in the next few months.
