Margarida Maia, PhD, science writer —

Margarida is a biochemist (University of Porto, Portugal) with a PhD in biomedical sciences (VIB and KULeuven, Belgium). Her main interest is science communication. She is also passionate about design and the dialogue between art and science.

Articles by Margarida Maia

Planned Phase 3 Trials of Oral Buntanetap to Span Disease Stages

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given positive feedback to Annovis Bio’s plans to start two Phase 3 clinical trials of buntanetap (ANVS401) as an oral therapy for early- and late-stage Parkinson’s disease. The feedback followed a review of data from a Phase 2 clinical trial showing significant…

Dosing Starts in Canada in Trial of DA01 for Advanced Parkinson’s

A first patient in Canada has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial of DA01, a cell-based investigational therapy for advanced Parkinson’s disease by BlueRock Therapeutics. The therapy consists of surgically injecting neurons (nerve cells) that make dopamine — and which are damaged and die with Parkinson’s — into…

Companies Using AI to Identify Small Molecules to Treat Parkinson’s

Iktos is working with Astrogen to use artificial intelligence (AI) to identify small molecules as candidates for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Under the collaboration’s terms, Iktos will apply its proprietary machine-learning algorithm to virtually “sketch”molecules directed against a defined target and shortlist candidates for preclinical studies, the companies…

FDA Awards Final Approval to Entacapone Generic for Wearing-off

Alembic Pharmaceuticals has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its generic version of entacapone as an add-on therapy for treating end-of-dose “wearing off” in Parkinson’s disease, the company announced. These entacapone tablets are “therapeutically equivalent” to Comtan and treat the motor…

Argobio Partners With GeneCode to Develop GDNF Mimetics

Argobio and GeneCode are teaming up to develop small molecules mimicking glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a protein that helps nerve cells survive, for the treatment of Parkinson’s and other diseases. The collaboration builds on previous work by researchers at GeneCode, who together with Mart Saarma, PhD,…

Video Selfies May One Day Help in Diagnosing Parkinson’s

A computer software that tracks how facial muscles move during a video selfie may be able to help predict whether a person is likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, a study reported. The study involved the use of the PARK test, a web-based application designed to detect and objectively measure…

Targeted Gene Therapy Boosts Levodopa’s Benefits in Mouse Study

A gene therapy targeting the substantia nigra, the brain region with dopamine-producing nerve cells, may boost the benefits of levodopa for people with Parkinson’s disease, a study reports. This idea was tested in a new mouse disease model — one in which Parkinson’s symptoms appeared after disrupting a protein…