A new Path for Parkinson's

LONDON & TUCSON—In an effort to speed discovery in an area with no current treatment options, Parkinson's UK has joined forces with Critical Path Institute (C-Path), a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating medical product development while reducing costs, in the formation of the Critical Path for Parkinson's Consortium (CPP). This undertaking will unite pharmaceutical and academic partners in a common goal of establishing best practices and more efficient protocols for planning and designing clinical trials for early in the disease, which in turn will improve the efficiency and success of developing potential treatments.

“Despite huge scientific progress, there have been no major advances in the treatments available for Parkinson’s in the last decade. At Parkinson’s UK, we’re adopting a new approach: tackling the critical road blocks standing in the way of the scientific breakthroughs that could have a huge impact on the lives of people with Parkinson’s,” Parkinson’s UK Chief Executive Steve Ford said in a press release. “It’s our goal that the partnership with the Critical Path Institute will improve the clinical trial process and deliver new and better treatments, faster, to the people who urgently need them.”

Dr. Arthur Roach, director of research at Parkinson’s UK, and Dr. Diane Stephenson, executive director of Critical Path for Parkinson’s Consortium, C-Path, will be co-directing the new consortium. With this initiative, the organizations can combine their efforts in data-sharing to advance Parkinson's research.

“In the era of electronic knowledge exchange, only when data-sharing becomes the norm can we derive its full benefits,” remarked Sue Dubman, UCSF Cancer Bio-informatics Director, patient advocate and Parkinson’s patient.

“The importance of the role of patient advocacy organizations, such as Parkinson’s UK, in making new innovations possible for patients has never been more critical. The partnership between C-Path and Parkinson’s UK will complement each organization’s strengths. With the extensive reach and data available from Parkinson’s UK, and C-Path’s scientifically rigorous approach to data standardization and clinical trial modeling and simulation, the potential value of this effort, both to those who develop treatments for Parkinson’s, and those who live with the condition, cannot be underestimated,” Martha A. Brumfield, president and CEO of C-Path, commented in a statement.

In other recent news for Parkinson's UK, the company announced that the Oddfellows organization presented the charity with a check for £42,049 (approximately $65,180), which completes a grant of £127,000 (approximately $196,864) over three years that has fully funded a research project at the University of Oxford.