> In the study, 648 adults with Parkinson’s were randomized to receive either a placebo or a pill targeting a protein called LRRK2. In 2004, researchers discovered that mutations in the LRRK2 gene can cause a rare, inherited form of Parkinson’s. And in 2018, another group of scientists showed that blocking the protein might actually benefit all patients with the disease.
> The pill, called BIIB122, indeed knocked down LRRK2 in the blood and to a degree in the brain, as measured by spinal fluid. Yet trial participants who received BIIB122 did not decline any slower, as measured by multiple scales, than those on the placebo.
Big setback for Denali.
> In the study, 648 adults with Parkinson’s were randomized to receive either a placebo or a pill targeting a protein called LRRK2. In 2004, researchers discovered that mutations in the LRRK2 gene can cause a rare, inherited form of Parkinson’s. And in 2018, another group of scientists showed that blocking the protein might actually benefit all patients with the disease.
> The pill, called BIIB122, indeed knocked down LRRK2 in the blood and to a degree in the brain, as measured by spinal fluid. Yet trial participants who received BIIB122 did not decline any slower, as measured by multiple scales, than those on the placebo.