Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease. As neurons in the brain degenerate and die, those affected experience symptoms such as tremors or shaking in the hands, slowed movement, muscle rigidity, impaired posture and balance, changes in speech, dementia, hallucinations, and a loss of automatic movements like blinking or smiling. Currently, there are therapies available to help manage the symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease. These options include levodopa and dopamine agonists, anticholinergics, and even deep brain stimulation. Despite this, there are still no disease-specific treatments.
Biotechnology company NodThera is working to transform the treatment landscape for Parkinson’s disease through its therapeutic candidate NT-0796. The company describes NT-0796 as:
Our lead molecule derived from our proprietary chemistry that is unlike any other NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor in the space. NT-0796 is designed to deliver an intracellular payload directly to the specific immune cell types that drive inflammatory diseases, with potential applications in peripheral and neuroinflammatory diseases.
This orally administered treatment, which can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, is being explored in clinical studies.
A Phase 1B/2A Study Looks at a Parkinson’s Disease Treatment
An article in European Pharmaceutical Manufacturer discusses how NodThera recently released positive data from a Phase 1b/2a trial which explored NT-0796 for Parkinson’s disease. Prior studies have identified a link between neuroinflammation and Parkinson’s disease development. In this study, researchers sought to uncover whether NT-0796 could meaningfully reduce inflammatory biomarkers (such as interleukin-6 and CCL2), as well as Parkinson’s-specific biomarkers, in both the blood and cerebrospinal fluid.
NT-0796 was both safe to use and tolerated nicely by trial participants. While some adverse reactions occurred, these were typically mild in nature. Researchers found that the pharmacokinetic profile made it clear that NT-0796 could be used daily and that the response in the brain was measurable and durable over a 24-hour period. Further, over a 28-day period, NT-0796 lowered levels of pro-inflammatory biomarkers, highlighting reduced neuroinflammation. The pro-inflammatory biomarker levels even fell to a point where they were similar to those seen in healthy controls. Markers of neurodegeneration also fell after treatment.
It’s important to note that additional research still must be done to identify whether NT-0796 could be leveraged within this space. However, the initial data does show promise.
