How will PD biomarkers impact Parkinson’s research?
KM: With the development of biomarkers, drug companies will have the opportunity to identify and assess people at earlier stages of disease. For both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, one of the problems that drug companies have had is that current methods of diagnosis only identify patients after symptoms start. Particularly with Parkinson’s disease, clinical trials of disease-modifying therapies may be more successful if they are tested in patients at earlier stages of disease, when there is less neuronal loss. Biomarkers will also help provide researchers with better ways to track whether a therapy can alter disease progression in clinical trials. MJFF: You are the principal investigator for the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), which aims to develop biomarkers of PD. How does PPMI play into this news? KM: PPMI is an ambitious study to identify and validate biomarkers for Parkinson’s disease progression. It will establish a remarkable database and an extensive library of
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