Michael J. Fox Foundation: New treatment for Parkinson's Disease

Copied from The Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation Weekly News Update

Tim Sandle

Digital Journal - The Michael J. Fox Foundation, which was set up in the name of the actor to study Parkinson's Disease, has announced that it is to work with the ‘big pharma’ company Sanofi to look at a potential new treatment for the disease.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation and the company Sanofi have announced trials for a new treatment for Parkinson's Disease.

Parkinson’s Disease is a disorder of the brain that leads to shaking (tremors) and difficulty with walking, movement, and coordination. The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) is a charitable organization is dedicated to finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease and the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson’s. The organization works with the actor, Michael J. Fox, who has Parkinson’s Disease. Fox first developed the disease in 1990.

The drug company Sanofi has entered into a collaboration the MJFF to conduct a clinical trial to assess the safety and tolerability of new drug, a type of inhibitor called phosphodiesterase (coded AVE8112), which is designed to help patients with Parkinson's Disease.

According to the Top News Net, Todd Sherer, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of MJFF, said that the drug had:

"Shown promising pro-cognitive activity in preclinical models that could be of interest to the under-addressed cognitive aspects of Parkinson's disease, an area of unmet need where a new treatment could make a tangible difference in patients' lives. Groundbreaking collaborations with like-minded partners such as Sanofi are a hallmark of the Fox Foundation's approach and help us speed scientific advances with potential to improve the treatment of Parkinson's for patients today and in the future."

Under the terms of the collaboration, MJFF will sponsor a phase I b clinical trial to assess the safety and tolerability of AVE8112 in patients with Parkinson's disease. All data and results generated by the clinical trial will be owned by MJFF and shared with Sanofi.

To add to this, the Euro Pharma Review quotes Dr. Elias Zerhouni, President, Global R&D, Sanofi, as saying “The Michael J. Fox Foundation has been a driving force in discovering and developing improved therapies for those living with Parkinson's disease. Through this research collaboration, together we will be able to study Sanofi's pharmaceutical compound for a possible new treatment for PD patients around the world.”

Further development plans will be based upon the results of the study.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/323304