Australian trial announcement.
Courtesy of StockTwits
“The Australian: HOME SCIENCE
World-first Australian trial offers Parkinson’s hope. Richard Wyse is a world-leading authority on Parkinson's disease.
EXCLUSIVE
By NOAH YIM and NATASHA ROBINSON
8:22PM FEBRUARY 20, 2023
Australia will host a clinical trial for a drug that promises to fight Parkinson’s disease as part of a global research effort to tackle the neurodegenerative disease that affects more than 215,000 people across the country.
Richard Wyse, the world authority on the disease, says the co-ordinated effort will bring “major change” to a field that has not produced a better drug than one discovered almost 50 years ago.
The trial drug, developed by US pharmaceutical company Anavex, is one of the therapies identified by a committee of experts as deserving prioritisation among hundreds others.”
“Initial overseas results suggested the Anavex drug was a “meaningful step forward” for treating Parkinson’s. Researchers hope it could slow the development of the disease within patients, compared to existing therapies that can only ease a patient’s decline during otherwise unabated development of the disease.
The Australian trial will be a part of a series to combat Parkinson’s disease that Dr Wyse, who chairs the expert committee as director of clinical development at UK charity Cure Parkinson’s, says makes him “hugely encouraged”.
“I think we’re going to make a major impact in the neurodegeneration field over the next year or so,” he said.
The late-stage clinical trial has been set up by non-profit philanthropy group Shake It Up, under its Catalyst program, which aims to accelerate the rollout of therapies to combat Parkinson’s disease.
Shake It Up chief Vicki Miller said she hoped this would be the first of several drugs to be trialled in Australia.”
