Clinical Data Reported on Parkinson’s Biomarker Candidates

(National Institute of Mental Health)

KineMed Inc., a drug discovery company in Emeryville, California says it recently presented data on a new use of cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers for the monitoring of disease progression and therapeutic interventions in Parkinson’s disease. The company reported the findings at a grant review meeting of the Michael J. Fox Foundation on 1 November 2010 in New York.

Parkinson’s disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects nearly 5 million individuals worldwide, and one in 100 people over age 60.

KineMed says the discovery was made with its isotopic labeling that reveals real-time deficits of microtubule-mediated neuronal transport. The company says it harnesses work in pathway kinetics for this technology that measures the activity of proteins central to this disease.

Biomarkers are a high-priority research area for The Michael J. Fox Foundation, which in September launched a landmark clinical study, the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), to identify biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease. PPMI has been designed to validate candidates once enough preliminary evidence has been gathered to show that they have potential to serve as consistent and reliable biomarkers of the disease.

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