A clinical trial in Parkinson's Disease showed promising results for a gene therapy based on a discovery by Hope Center scientists.

Patients suffering from Parkinson's disease showed significant improvement and no serious adverse effects in a Phase I clinical trial of CERE-120, encoding the growth factor Neurturin. Neurturin, a member of the GDNF family of growth factors, was discovered at Washington University School of Medicine by Hope Center researchers Paul Kotzbauer, Eugene Johnson, and Jeff Milbrandt (click here to view the original 1996 publication in Nature). The Phase I trial to test safety, tolerability, and potential efficacy of CERE-120 was conducted by Ceregene, Inc. in San Diego, CA and supported by the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Based on the promising outcome of the Phase I trial, a Phase II trial now is underway. This work was presented at the 2006 Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association in Chicago.