Patricia Inácio, PhD, science writer —

PhotoPharmics plans to open, possibly this summer, a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of its light-based and noninvasive Celeste device in treating Parkinson’s symptoms, for use by patients at home and with trial goals evaluated using telemedicine. A particular company goal for this device, PhotoPharmics also announced, is reaching underserved patients…

New research suggests that brain inflammation is the likely reason antibody-based therapies are ineffective in clinical trials for people with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. The findings show that the binding of the antibody to its target protein — in the case of Parkinson’s disease the misfolded alpha-synuclein —…

Inbrain Neuroelectronics has raised  $16.8 million in Series A financing to support moving into clinical testing a new neuromodulation device that uses computer learning to treat Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy. Electrodes for this next-generation neurostimulator are also based on graphene, a single layer of tightly bound carbon  atoms that allows…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $5 million grant to researchers investigating whether an artificial intelligence tool might improve the accuracy of diagnosing Parkinson’s disease at its early stages. Early diagnosis is challenging due to the overlap of Parkinson’s motor and non-motor symptoms and those of two…

A University of Alberta pharmacology professor and researcher will use a CA $1.04 million grant to investigate the potential role of fatty molecules — called gangliosides — in treating neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease. The grant, from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and worth about $826,000, was…

A grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) will help Clene Nanomedicine to advance in development CNM-Au8, its cellular energy-promoting, investigational Parkinson’s treatment. The grant will help to support preclinical studies in patients’ nerve cells and mouse models of the disease, as well as facilitate the launch of a Phase 2 safety and effectiveness…

Changes in the composition of fat molecules on the membranes of nerve cells appear to change how the alpha-synuclein protein interacts with these same cell membranes, possibly promoting the aggregation that characterizes Parkinson’s disease, new research reports. The study, “The docking of synaptic vesicles on the presynaptic membrane induced by…

Abnormal blood sugar (glucose) levels, either lower or higher than the norm, appears to be linked with a faster progression of motor difficulties in people with Parkinson’s disease, research suggests. The brief report on this finding, “Euglycemia Indicates Favorable Motor Outcome in Parkinson’s Disease,” was published in the journal…

Parkinson’s UK is paving the way for a future clinical trial that will continue to test a naturally occurring protein, the glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor or GDNF, as a potential therapy for slowing Parkinson’s disease progression. The new trial will follow a 2019 clinical study of…

Blackfynn announced that its is acquiring the rights to a candidate Parkinson’s disease treatment that others gave up on but is thought ready to move into pivotal Phase 3 testing. Neither the investigative treatment nor the company that initially developed it — or other details of this acquisition — were…