Drugs aimed at a sliver of Parkinson’s patients may benefit many more than thought — and boost a biotech
A gene that can cause Parkinson’s when it is mutated can also do so in its supposedly healthy, normal form, offering hope that treatments targeting inherited Parkinson’s might be effective…
It’s Christmas in July for at least one small biotech and, possibly, some major pharmaceutical companies. They had assumed a class of drugs they’re developing might work in a rare, genetic form of Parkinson’s disease that accounts for 3 or 4 percent of cases. But, according to surprising research published on Wednesday, the molecule that the drugs target might also be involved in the more common, non-inherited form of Parkinson’s.
“Their potential market just increased 30-fold,” said Dr. J. Timothy Greenamyre, a neurologist and Parkinson’s expert at the University of Pittsburgh and senior author of the new study.
