Cure Parkinson’s has announced the formation of a new evaluation panel to review applications submitted to its recent £2 million funding call for projects investigating combination therapies for Parkinson’s. The panel will meet in April, with final funding decisions expected in May.
The charity said proposals include both preclinical and clinical studies testing rationally designed treatment combinations. The panel will assess whether the projects are scientifically robust, aligned with Cure Parkinson’s mission and capable of generating results that matter to the Parkinson’s community.
To ensure rigorous evaluation, the group brings together expertise in drug discovery, statistics, pharmacology and clinical trials.
Chaired by Professor Fiona Ducotterd, Chief Scientific Officer of the Alzheimer’s Research UK UCL Drug Discovery Institute, the panel includes academics, industry specialists, clinicians and people with Parkinson’s. Members are Ian Reynolds, Kevin McFarthing, Kalpana Merchant, Dave Weiner, Peter Debiaso, Caroline Williams‑Gray, James Wason, Sue Learned, Jérémie Nsengimana, Camille Carroll and Michele Hu.
Combination therapies use two or more active treatments that may target different pathways or enhance each other’s effects. They are already used to manage Parkinson’s symptoms, such as co‑careldopa, which combines levodopa and carbidopa. Cure Parkinson’s said it hopes to encourage further research into whether such approaches could also modify the course of the disease.
Rachel Hughes, Preclinical Research Manager at Cure Parkinson’s, said: “One of the four pillars of Cure Parkinson’s updated Research Strategy champions the development of combination therapies, tackling Parkinson’s from two or more different angles.
“We were delighted to receive so many interesting and rationally designed proposals submitted to our funding call last year and are thrilled to have this panel of experts onboard to evaluate them.”
Professor Fiona Ducotterd said: “To progress potential treatment combinations into clinical trials, we must conduct a deep and stringent scientific assessment of the possible benefits and risks of the drugs alone and in combination.”
She added: “We’ve convened an experienced panel of drug developers from academia and industry to assess these proposals and identify those with significant promise in the supporting data to show patient benefit. We are excited to dive in and build out this new combination portfolio plan for the first time and see how it progresses in the direction of patients to make a difference.”
