Promising Effects of an α-synuclein Targeted Immunotherapy in Treating Early Parkinson’s Disease

For Immediate Release
Media Contact:Erica Halmstad
+1 414-276-2145
ehalmstad@movementdisorders.org

MILWAUKEE, WI, USA – Patients with early Parkinson’s disease (PD) who were treated for two years with prasinezumab, an α-synuclein targeted immunotherapy, saw more favorable motor progression scores than those who received delayed-start treatment with prasinezumab, according to a study being presented at the MDS Virtual Congress 2021.

Aggregation of α-synuclein is a well-known contributor to both sporadic and familial PD pathogenesis. Therefore, α-synuclein is a much sought-after disease-modifying target for future PD therapies.

In this study, Pagano et al., used a monoclonal antibody therapy, prasinezumab, designed to target α-synuclein, to treat patients with early PD. Patients were either given prasinezumab every four weeks for two years or placebo for 52 weeks followed by a delayed-start prasinezumab treatment for the remaining 52 weeks. Motor symptoms were assessed using MDS-UPDRS Part III and compared to baseline scores.

Eng-King Tan, Senior Consultant Neurologist at Singapore General Hospital and a professor at Duke-NUS Medical School, commented on this study, “the preliminary results of the delayed-start analysis of prasinezumab are exciting because PD patients treated with prasinezumab for two years in the early-start group appear to do better than those in the delayed-start group who were on the antibody for one year. While the period of one year is still relatively short to conclude that it has a disease modifying effect, the initial findings provide impetus to conduct further analysis and trials to assess its efficacy and safety in the longer term and also suggests that immunotherapy is a feasible therapeutic approach to PD.”

The author of the study is employed by Roche.

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About the MDS Virtual Congress 2021: Meeting participants gather to learn the latest research findings and state-of-the-art treatment options in Movement Disorders, including Parkinson's disease. Over 9,000 physicians, scientists and medical professionals from more than 100 countries will participate virtually to view over 30 hours of educational content and 1,300 scientific abstracts submitted by colleagues from around the world.

About the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society: The International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS), an international society of over 11,000 clinicians, scientists, and other healthcare professionals, is dedicated to improving patient care through education and research. For more information about MDS, visit www.movementdisorders.org.