Roche has been developing an experimental drug for Parkinson’s disease for over ten years. According to BioPharma Dive, the latest statements from the company are that the drug, prasinezumab, failed another clinical trial.
About Prasinezumab
Masses of proteins called aggregates are formed when they are damaged or when they fold incorrectly. Prasinezumab is designed to bind to protein aggregates that could result in Parkinson’s if folded incorrectly.
However, Roche’s CMO, Levi Garraway, stated that Roche is looking at various positive signs that would merit additional exploration. Results of these explorations will be presented at the next medical meeting. Meanwhile, the company will work with health authorities to determine the optimum direction for the program.
THE PASADENA TRIAL
The PASADENA trial involved over three hundred participants with early-stage Parkinson’s. Pasadena compares two doses of prasinezumab versus a placebo. Results, published in a 2002 publication of the NEJM reported that the drug did not significantly slow progression of Parkinson’s disease.
THE PADOVA TRIAL
Padova evaluated 586 participants for a minimum of eighteen months while on “stable” treatment for Parkinson’s symptoms.
Roche issued a statement to the effect that although prasinezumab did not outperform the placebo group as a whole, the drug did have a 16% benefit in connection with the main goal of the study which is to slow the decline in motor function.
The drug proved to be even more effective when administered to the seventy five percent of participants who were also taking levodopa, the most common medication used in the treatment of Parkinson’s symptoms.
In addition, multiple studies consistently reported positive trends. Therefore, Roche intends to follow up on both the PADOVA and PASADENA studies where the participants were treated with prasinezumab.
Brian Abrahams, RBC Capital Markets analyst, sees Roche’s neuroscience experiment as high-risk. He commented that the constant activity keeps hope alive and justifies the stock’s rebound.
Abrahams believes that the drug’s results justify a new study involving patients being treated with Levadopa plus prasinezumab. However, this approach might limit the drug’s sales opportunities.
Roche is faced with competition from Sanofi, AstraZeneca, and AbbVie. Recently UCB acknowledged that its Parkinson’s medicine being developed in partnership with Novartis failed in its “proof-of-concept” tests.
Source: https://www.biopharmadive.com/news/roche-prothena-parkinsons-drug-study-failure/736111/