University of Queensland researchers will partner with American biopharmaceutical company EpicentRx Inc. to evaluate new treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD), speeding up development of potential new therapies.
UQ and EpicentRx Inc. will evaluate the effectiveness of RRx-001, the lead compound in a pipeline of small molecules developed by the biopharmaceutical company for investigational treatments, to slow down or halt progression of Parkinson’s disease.
UQ lead and Centre for Clinical Research investigator Dr Richard Gordon said this partnership has been made possible through funding provided by The Michael J, Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) and the Shake It Up Australia Foundation (SIUAF), a not-for-profit organization which promotes and funds Australian research to slow, stop and cure Parkinson’s.
“Initial work on RRx-001 indicates that the compound could provide protection against PD by targeting multiple processes linked to disease progression in the brain, vascular and immune systems,” he said.
“This study will run for two years and is expected to generate key data to support clinical trials with RRx-001 in PD patients.”
“We are excited to be working with EpicentRx and are grateful for the funding and resources provided by MJFF and SIUAF to evaluate RRx-001,” Dr Gordon said.
Parkinson’s disease is the second most common neurological disease in Australia affecting around 100,000 people nationally, according to the Shake It Up Australia Foundation .
The number of Australians with PD has increased by 17 percent in the past six years with 20 percent of patients aged under 50 years and 10 percent diagnosed by the age of 40.
Founder and CEO of Shake It Up Australia, Mr Clyde Campbell welcomed the UQ– EpicentRx partnership and highlighted the potential for new treatments for people living with PD.
“RRx-001 has been evaluated in human trials for other conditions, which means it can be accelerated as a new treatment for PD, if outcomes from this research are successful,” Clyde Campbell said.
