Treating Parkinson's disease

Acadia Pharmaceuticals has been awarded a grant from The Michael J Fox Foundation for the development of novel Nurr1-RXR agonists for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.

The grant of US$300,000 was awarded under the Foundation's therapeutics development initiative aimed at supporting preclinical development of Parkinson's disease therapies that have the potential for fundamentally altering disease course and improving treatment of symptoms above and beyond current standards of care. This grant represents Acadia's third award from The Michael J Fox Foundation.

"Our mission is to advance the research with the greatest promise for improving the lives of patients with Parkinson's disease," said Todd Sherer, PhD, vice president, research programs of the Michael J Fox Foundation. "Acadia's Nurr1 program may pave the way for a new Parkinson's disease treatment that has the potential to slow or stop disease progression, something no currently available treatment can do."

Parkinson's disease results from a progressive loss of brain cells that produce dopaminergic neurons. Scientific evidence suggests that Nurr1, a nuclear hormone receptor, plays a critical role in the growth, maintenance, and survival of dopaminergic neurons. Scientists at Acadia have discovered compounds that selectively activate Nurr1-RXR complexes and promote viability of dopamine-containing neurons.

Acadia researchers will examine the effects of Nurr1-RXR agonists in preclinical models of Parkinson's disease, focusing on neuroprotection, neuroregeneration, and motor performance.

"We are grateful for the Michael J Fox Foundation's support of our Nurr1 program. The award recognizes the pioneering work we are pursuing to discover and develop a novel treatment for Parkinson's disease," said Uli Hacksell, PhD, CEO of Acadia. "We are committed to bringing forward innovative therapies in this area of neurology and, in addition to preclinical programs addressing Nurr1 and ER-beta receptors for Parkinson's disease, we are pursuing a phase 3 program with pimavanserin for Parkinson's disease psychosis."