News

Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder), an approved therapy for off episodes in Parkinson’s patients on certain standard levodopa-based treatments, is now available in Spain. Developed by Acorda Therapeutics, the therapy was approved in the U.S. in 2018 and for the European Union in 2019. In Spain and Germany — where…

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) has awarded a $2.5 million grant to Selonterra to support new therapeutic approaches targeting genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease. “The contribution of genetics to Parkinson’s disease is undisputed,” Anne Urfer-Buchwalder, PhD, co-founder and president of Selonterra, said in…

SteadyScrib, a startup company led by undergraduate students at Northwestern University, is working on a pen-and-clipboard system that can make writing easier for people with Parkinson’s disease. The company hopes to launch its pen sets by this year’s end, and it offers a waitlist for people…

The Parkinson’s Foundation was awarded nearly $800,000 to support research efforts that aim to improve the lives of the estimated 18,000 people living with Parkinson’s disease in Arizona. The focus of the new grant, from the Pat Simone Charitable Foundation, located in Arizona, is to improve genetic testing,…

Levels of a fatty molecule called Bis(monacylglycerol) phosphate, or BMP, are significantly elevated in the urine of people with certain LRRK2 and GBA1 mutations linked to Parkinson’s disease, a new study suggests. Measuring urinary BMP levels could be a useful way of gauging the effectiveness of potential treatments that target…

Probucol, a cholesterol-lowering medication previously used in Western countries, improved motor function and lengthened the lifespan of treated animals in models of Parkinson’s disease, a study found. Identified as a potential Parkinson’s treatment through an artificial intelligence (AI)-based search, probucol was found to promote mitophagy, the cellular pathway that recycles…

Parkinson’s disease patients with inadequately controlled tremors are being sought for a Phase 2 clinical trial of suvecaltamide, an oral treatment candidate from Jazz Pharmaceuticals. The Phase 2 trial (NCT05642442), which enrolled its first participant late last year, seeks about 160 adults, ages 40-80, with Parkinson’s who have…

Parkinson’s UK is continuing to support work into a wearable device — called Cue Band — aiming to lessen chronic sialorrhea, the excessive drooling that often accompanies Parkinson’s disease. Having helped with Cue Band’s early development, the nonprofit is funding a planned test of the device’s at-home use in up to…

The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded $400,000 to an Augusta University (AU) neuroscientist to research a possible brain-gut connection in Parkinson’s disease. Danielle Mor, PhD, from the Medical College of Georgia at AU, will use the two-year Early-Investigator Research Award to explore whether Parkinson’s starts in the gut. Specifically,…

Inflammation in the brain is detectable at the earliest stages of Parkinson’s disease and even before treatment is begun, a new study reports. The findings support the idea that inflammation may be an early driver of Parkinson’s itself, rather than merely a byproduct of the disease’s neurodegeneration, the researchers…