Parkinson Pipeline Project

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What's New...

Repairing the Parkinson's Pipeline, by Robin Elliott, Executive Director of the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation

Response to Robin Elliott, by Peggy Cohen, Ph.D., Project Director

Terminated Experimental Treatments

Opinion: Is there an important pattern in the seemingly uninterrupted failure of drugs and biologics?
Read this Op/Ed

On the Toxicity of GDNF:
A challenge to Amgen's monkey GDNF toxicity study

Book: "Monkeys in the Middle: How One Drug Company Kept a Parkinson's Disease Breakthrough Out of Reach" by investigative journalist Nick Nelson, has just been published and is available on Amazon.

The "Access, Compassion, Care, and Ethics for Seriously Ill Patients Act"
or the Access Act (S3046 ) was introduced in the Senate in May. It is a bill to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to create a new conditional approval system for drugs, biological products, and devices that is responsive to the needs of seriously ill patients, and for other purposes. For Details see Library of Congress, Thomas

Past What's New items have been archived on
this page.

The Parkinson Pipeline
Project is supported by
the Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF),
a 501(c)3 Corporation headquartered in New York City.

Tax deductible donations to the Parkinson Pipeline Project, made through this website to Donate.net, go
to the PDF designated for use by the Parkinson Pipeline Project.

What is the Pipeline Project?

The Parkinson Pipeline Project is a grassroots group of advocates whose goal is to provide the patient perspective in the treatment development process. Through education, consultation, and participation with all stakeholders - including industry and the FDA - the Parkinson Pipeline Project hopes to increase clinical trial participation and accelerate approved treatment options. New PD treatments are followed from pre-clinical development to approval in the Pd Pipeline Database found on our website. More info...

"The missing ingredient in the development of new therapies is the voice of the patient."

Perry Cohen, Ph.D.,
Project Director

Declaration of Clinical Research Rights and Responsibilities
for People With Parkinson’s

Clinical research is essential to the development of new therapies and treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Yet, due to a number of factors, including a lack of awareness and understanding of the research process, only one percent of people with Parkinson’s participate. This is far below the number needed, delaying many promising trials. Read the entire Declaration!

"Ethical Issues in Clinical Neuroscience Research: A Patient's Perspective"

Written by Parkinson Pipeline Project members
Published in Neurotherapeutic, Vol. 4, No. 3, 2007.
Read the article

To access PD Pipeline database records related to these news items - please click on

The Parkinson's Disease Foundation Counsels Caution in Interpreting
Recent News Announcements about the Potential of Azilect® to Slow the
Progression of Parkinson's Disease (8/29/08) Read comments from Robin Elliott, PDF Executive Director

Neurologix Initiates Recruitment for Phase 2 Parkinson's Disease Trial (8/19/08) Read press release

Orally Disintegrating Selegiline (Zelapar) Allows Parkinson's Disease Patients to Lower Dopamine Agonist Dose (6/27/08) Read press release

Spheramine - Titan's potential cell-based treatment for Parkinson's Disease "failed in a Phase IIb study, and likely won't be continued by partner Bayer Schering Pharma. " Read article. (7/2/08)

"Understanding the Recent Announcement about Azilect® and its Potential to Slow the Progression of Parkinson’s Disease" Statement from the Parkinson's Disease Foundation (PDF) Read statement.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced the successful completion of ADAGIO, the phase III study designed to demonstrate that AZILECT 1 mg tablets can slow down the progression of Parkinson's disease." (6/15/08) Read full press release

FDA approval received for Requip XL 24-Hour - once- a-day dopamine agonist (6/1/3/08) Read press release

Kyowa Pharmaceutical Suspends Development of Istradefylline (KW-6002) in North America. Read sponsor's letter to the PD community (6/3/08) Read press release

Genetic mechanisms linked to Parkinson's disease uncovered. Researchers show direct pathway that could be targeted for drug therapy (7/24/08) Read the full article

Metabolomic Profiling to Develop Blood Biomarkers for Parkinson's Disease (06/08)

Can We Prevent Parkinson's Disease With N-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids? Read the full article - In four parts

FDA Scraps Helsinki Declaration on Protecting Human Subjects" Read full opinion

FDA Signals High Bar for Stem Cell Treatments. Read full article and comments in Wall Street Journal Health Blog.

When Registering Trials is No Help by Merrill Goozner, from GoozNews blog, March 7 2008
Read article

Gains Come with Risks, Sometimes Personal Costs by Peggy Willocks

Profit Over Common Sense
Andy Grove Speaks to Society for Neuroscience

New data has patient advocates still asking: Why did Amgen halt its GDNF trials?
Given the overwhelmingly positive phase I trial results, and the inconclusive results of the phase II trial, the research should have been continued.

Tell Us What You Think

For archived op/eds see Op Eds / Perspectives

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