Parkinson’s Disease Treatment Launching Phase 2 Study in 2020

An Austria based biotechnology company announced it will now focus on the preparations for a phase 2 clinical trial to treat patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

In a press release issued on January 10, 2020, AFFiRiS announced it has achieved proof of concept of its AFFITOME technology in humans for hypercholesterolemia and Parkinson’s disease.

Additionally, AFFiRiS said it is ‘focusing on neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson´s addresses the urgent medical need.’

AFFiRiS has devised a unique immunological approach – AFFITOME technology – which mimics the epitopes of pathologic forms of proteins. 

The result is a treatment modality called specific active immunotherapy (SAIT). 

‘We are investigating the use of SAIT to specifically target oligomeric species of α-synuclein protein, which are thought to be the toxic forms of the protein, with the aim of reducing the progression of Parkinson’s disease,’ says the company’s website.

Via this mechanism, the aim is to inhibit disease progression and improve the lives of patients.

Rossella Medori, Chief Medical Officer at AFFiRiS commented in the press release, ‘Patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD) face an all-too-predictable future and are in urgent need of therapies that alter the course of disease progression. 

‘Although there are many treatments available to manage the devastating symptoms, sadly none of these acts on the underlying cause of the disease.’

‘However, AFFiRiS’ unique immunological approach provides a disease-modifying therapy with an excellent competitive profile in the field of neurodegenerative treatments.’

A listing of AFFiRiS’s completed clinical trials is available here.

This is potentially good news since most current therapies used for PD improve symptoms are not intended to slow or halt the disease progression.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects predominately dopamine-producing (“dopaminergic”) neurons in a specific area of the brain called substantia nigra, says Parkinsons.org.

It is important to understand that people with PD first start experiencing symptoms later in the course of the disease because a significant amount of the substantia nigra neurons have already been lost or impaired. 

Lewy bodies (accumulation of abnormal alpha-synuclein) are found in substantia nigra neurons of PD patients. The progression of symptoms is often a bit different from one person to another due to the diversity of the disease.

The cause of PD remains largely unknown.

While Parkinson’s itself is not fatal, disease complications can be serious. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) rated complications from PD as the 14th cause of death in the United States.

‘It is possible to have a good quality of life with PD. Working with your doctor and following recommended therapies are essential in successfully treating symptoms by using dopaminergic medications and more tailored treatments to slow down the disease process,’ says Parkinsons.org.

AFFiRiS was founded in 2003 in Viena, Austria, to ‘pursued our vision of using the immune system to find and fight proteins central to the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Our ultimate aim is to improve the lives of patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, by focusing on the root cause rather than symptom management.’

Parkinson's Disease news published by Precision Vaccinations.