Several groups are pursuing gene transfer strategies against Parkinson’s disease. No small task, because for these approaches to work, investigators have to deliver vectors deep inside the brain using surgery. I have previously written that early phase studies using surgical delivery press the boundaries of acceptable risk, because patients can generally manage their disease adequately-… Continue reading More Gray Matter: Parkinson’s Disease and Gene Transfer
Tag: Parkinson’s Disease
Remembrance of Things Past: Fetal Tissue Transplantation and Parkinson’s Disease
In a recent article in Science magazine, Constance Holden reports that European researchers are contemplating a revival of fetal tissue transplantation for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. As the article recounts, fetal transplants were subjected to sham controlled studies in the late 1990s; none performed better than sham, and several caused disabling dyskinesias. So should… Continue reading Remembrance of Things Past: Fetal Tissue Transplantation and Parkinson’s Disease
Sourgene
Heaven help those perseverant souls who pursue translational research on neurodegnerative disorders. New interventions in this area have just about the highest failure rate of any area of medical research. And last week, yet another promising strategy was shown ineffective in a phase II study. The trial in question was testing Ceregene’s gene transfer strategy… Continue reading Sourgene
More Grey Matter: Parkinson’s Disease Gene Transfer
Ceregene published long awaited results of its phase 1 gene transfer study of a Parkinson’s disease treatment in the May issue of Lancet Neurology. The open-label study involved two dose levels. After one year of observation, the authors report no major adverse events relating to the study product, CERE-120 (importantly, no neutralizing antibodies against the… Continue reading More Grey Matter: Parkinson’s Disease Gene Transfer