Sanofi collaborates with MJFF on Parkinson’s disease treatment

PARIS—Sanofi announced in late April that it has enteredinto a collaboration with the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) to conduct aclinical trial to assess the safety and tolerability of AVE 8112, a Sanofiphosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) inhibitor, in patients with Parkinson'sdisease.

"We hope to continue to develop relationships with privatefoundations like the Michael J. Fox Foundation to pool our resources andmaximize the potential of our drug portfolio to address unmet medical needs,"said Dr. Elias Zerhouni, president of global R&D at Sanofi, in a pressrelease announcing the collaboration.

Under the terms of the collaboration, MJFF will sponsor aPhase Ib clinical trial to assess the safety and tolerability of AVE8112 inpatients with Parkinson's disease. All data and results generated by theclinical trial will be owned by MJFF and shared with Sanofi. Further developmentplans will be based upon the results of the study. The clinical trial will beconducted at sites in the United States in Baltimore, Md., and Los Angeles.Patient enrollment in the study is expected to begin later this year.

According to Sanofi, AVE8112 has shown promisingprocognitive activity in preclinical models that could be of interest to theunder-addressed cognitive aspects of Parkinson's disease.

This "area of unmet need where a new treatment could make atangible difference in patients' lives," said Dr. Todd Sherer, CEO of MJFF, ina statement.

"Groundbreaking collaborations with like-minded partnerssuch as Sanofi are a hallmark of the Fox Foundation's approach and help usspeed scientific advances with potential to improve the treatment ofParkinson's for patients today and in the future," he added.