News

BlueRock Fully Enrolls Cell-based Trial for Advanced Parkinson’s

BlueRock Therapeutics has completed full enrollment in its open-label Phase 1 study evaluating the safety and preliminary efficacy of its investigational cell-based therapy BRT-DA01 for advanced Parkinson’s disease. The therapy is designed to ease motor symptoms in Parkinson’s patients who do not fully respond to regular medications. The…

Nanoparticles Restore Mitochondrial Function in Mouse Study

A team of researchers has designed nanoparticles able to restore the function of mitochondria — cells’ energy production centers — and improve motor behavior in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease. Experiments in cell cultures revealed that the nanoparticles could restore function of reversibly damaged mitochondria and promote the…

£2.68M Award to NRG Therapeutics Supports Work Into Potential DMT

NRG Therapeutics has received a £2.68M (about $3.4 million) award to support preclinical work into small molecule disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. The two-year Biomedical Catalyst award given the company is for early stage research in treatments to protect mitochondria in the brain, and is partly funded…

Nerve Cell Lines Derived From Stem Cells of PPMI Study Donors Created

Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics reported that it has developed, using stem cells from people with Parkinson’s disease, dopaminergic neurons containing two common, disease-associated mutations for use in Parkinson’s research. Stem cell donors were patients involved in the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) through the Michael J. Fox Foundation…

Inflammatory Markers, Sleep Disorder Linked In Parkinson’s

Blood levels of c-reactive protein (CRP) and the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), two indicators of systemic inflammation, were associated with the presence of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder (RBD) in people with Parkinson’s disease, a study found. Patients with RBD also had worse cognition than those who did…

Young Inventor Honored for App to Detect Disease in Facial Expression

The European Patent Office (EPO) has nominated a 22-year-old woman for its inaugural Young Inventors prize in recognition of her artificial intelligence (AI)-powered app that can detect Parkinson’s disease early through facial expressions and might assist in work toward better Parkinson’s treatments. Erin Smith of San Francisco is…