Partnership aims to ID definitive biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease
Newly launched AMP PDRD backed by $21M in public-private funding
A new collaboration dubbed the Accelerating Medicines Partnership in Parkinson’s Disease and Related Disorders, or simply AMP PDRD, will work to identify specific biomarkers that can differentiate Parkinson’s from other neurodegenerative disorders with similar symptoms.
The goal, according to the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), which launched the partnership, is to enable an earlier diagnosis of Parkinson’s and speed the development of personalized treatment plans for patients.
The AMP PDRD will bring together a number of public agencies and private stakeholders, including The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF), according to an FNIH press release. On the public side are the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute on Aging, both part of the National Institutes of Health, as well as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The public-private partnership has a combined commitment of about $21 million in funding, according to the FNIH.
“By combining resources and expertise, this collaborative partnership promises to advance research more quickly and improve outcomes for individuals and families living with Parkinson’s and similar disorders,” said Julie Gerberding, MD, FNIH’s president and CEO.
New biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease could speed diagnosis, treatment
An early diagnosis of Parkinson’s is key for starting treatment when the disease is in its first stages. Diagnosing Parkinson’s involves reviewing a patient’s medical history and running varying tests to rule out other conditions with similar symptoms. However, this process is often slow and carries a chance of misdiagnosis.
While generally not needed, tests to check for the presence of toxic alpha-synuclein species, a hallmark of Parkinson’s, can be used to confirm a diagnosis of Parkinson’s. However, these tests can’t distinguish between Parkinson’s and other disorders marked by abnormal alpha-synuclein protein accumulation, such as Lewy body dementia.
The AMP PDRD aims to find new biomarkers in easily accessible bodily fluids like blood or saliva. Such biomarkers could help doctors tell Parkinson’s from similar conditions like multiple system atrophy, Lewy body dementia, and progressive supranuclear palsy.
Such biomarkers also could help in selecting patients for clinical trials, which could speed treatment development by focusing on those who actually have Parkinson’s.
Although significant progress has been made in Parkinson’s research, there remains a need to deepen our understanding of how this disease begins and progresses over a long period of time.
The AMP PDRD also aims to deepen the understanding of the various stages of Parkinson’s disease through the collection and analysis of patient data. By comparing data from patients at different stages of the disease, researchers can learn more about the underlying mechanisms that drive the onset and progression of Parkinson’s, which could lead to more targeted and effective treatments.
“Although significant progress has been made in Parkinson’s research, there remains a need to deepen our understanding of how this disease begins and progresses over a long period of time,” Gerberding said.
The new collaboration builds on the earlier AMP PD program, which established the AMP PD Knowledge Platform, a database that holds a large amount of genetic and biological data to help identify biomarkers of Parkinson’s.
Now, the AMP PDRD will expand these datasets to include more people with Parkinson’s and related disorders, find new biomarkers, and improve tools for analyzing disease stages and types.
“Data sharing at this scale will accelerate the field’s progress by improving drug trials and fueling the clinical pipeline,” said Todd Sherer, PhD, MJFF’s chief mission officer, who added that the foundation “looks forward to the results of bringing so many knowledge bases together through this public-private consortium.”
For Walter Koroshetz, MD, who directs the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, “this will ultimately mean more quickly identifying which treatments are more likely to have beneficial effects for persons with Parkinson’s.”
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