Parkinson's disease (PD), affecting 10 million people globally, lacks a cure, and current therapies only manage symptoms. A link between Gaucher disease (GD) and PD, particularly in carriers of glucocerebrosidase (GBA1) mutations, has sparked interest in developing new drugs. Despite pharmaceutical companies focusing on formulations, progress is slow. Agyany, with decades of experience in GD research, plans clinical trials using existing generic drugs for GBA-related PD and idiopathic PD. Their approach targets the misfolded enzyme glucocerebrosidase with pharmacological chaperons, inspired by success in GD using ambroxol. The strategy aims to provide a quicker path to novel therapeutic options for PD.
Parkinson disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease affecting around 10 million people worldwide. It is a debilitating disorder that despite many years and billions of dollars research - there is still no cure and none of the therapeutic options truly reverse its manifestations. The realization that the relationship between Gaucher disease (GD) - the rare lysosomal storage disease - and PD, also exists in carriers of the disease (with a mono-allele mutation in glucocerebrosidase (GBA1)) has led to several attempts to develop new drugs not just for GBA-related PD, but also for PD at large. However, heretofore all pharmaceutical companies have focused on finding new formulations, mostly based on what Agyany believe is not targeting the underlying pathology, but in any case, will require several years before new drugs will reach the market. With the background of three decades working at the world's largest center for GD at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, and with a different understanding of the pathological processes leading to PD among a significant number of GD patients and carriers, Agyany plans to begin clinical trials in newly diagnosed PD patients using existing generic drugs that would enable a short path for introducing novel therapeutic approach to GBA-related PD and potentially also for so called idiopathic PD (when no genetic cause is known). Based on our understanding of the underlying mechanism of GBA1-related PD, on research done in animal models and on our own anecdotal experience, Agyany believe that pharmacological chaperons are the most reasonable therapeutic modality to achieve success. Since the misfolding of the mutant enzyme, glucocerebrosidase, is the same both in GBA1-related PD and GD, and that the ambroxol impact is the same as well, Agyany can extrapolate from the success of ambroxol to achieve reversibility of neuronopathic features (that heretofore were considered irreversible, and the best expectation was lack of deterioration), in neuronopathic GD (nGD), to potential success in GBA-related PD. The plan is to first use generic formulations with a confirmed safety profile and repurpose their indication to PD.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
40
75mg slow release (SR), X16/day or 300mg X4/day oral capsules.
Shaare Zedek Medical Center
Jerusalem, Israel
RECRUITINGNumber of Participants With Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events (TEAEs), and Treatment-Emergent Serious Adverse Events (TESAEs)
The outcome measure involves the assessment of adverse events (AEs) experienced by study participants throughout the duration of the trial. Adverse events will be documented, and their severity will be graded according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5. This comprehensive evaluation aims to provide a clear understanding of the safety profile of the intervention by specifically measuring and reporting the incidence and severity of treatment-emergent adverse events.
Time frame: 12 months
Number of Participants With Potentially Clinically Significant Laboratory Abnormalities: Hematology
Criteria for potentially clinically significant abnormalities (PCSA): Hemoglobin: less than or equal to (\<=) 115 grams per liter (g/L) (Male\[M\]) or \<=95 g/L (Female\[F\]), greater than or equal to (\>=) 185 g/L (M) or \>=165 g/L (F), Decrease from baseline (DFB) \>=20 g/L; Hematocrit: \<=0.37 volume/volume (v/v) (M) or \<=0.32 v/v (F), \>=0.55 v/v (M) or \>=0.5 v/v (F); Red blood cells (RBC): \>=6 Tera/L; Platelets: less than (\<) 100 Giga/L, \>=700 Giga/L; White blood cells (WBC): \<3.0 Giga/L (Non-Black \[NB\]) or \<2.0 Giga/L (Black \[B\]), \>=16.0 Giga/L; Neutrophils: \<1.5 Giga/L (NB) or \<1.0 Giga/L (B); Lymphocytes: \<lower limit of normal (LLN), greater than (\>) 4.0 Giga/L; Monocytes: \<LLN, \>0.7 Giga/L; Basophils: \>0.1 Giga/L; Eosinophils: \>0.5 Giga/L or \>upper limit of normal (ULN) (if ULN \>=0.5 Giga/L).
Time frame: 12 months
Number of Participants With Potentially Clinically Significant Laboratory Abnormalities: Biochemistry (Metabolic, Electrolytes, Renal and Liver Function)
Criteria for PCSA: Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT): \>3 ULN, \>5 ULN; Aspartate aminotransferase (AST): \>3 ULN; Alkaline phosphatase: \>1.5 ULN; Total Bilirubin: \>1.5 ULN; ALT and Bilirubin: \>3 ULN and \>2 ULN; Direct Bilirubin and Bilirubin: \>35% and \>1.5 ULN. Criteria for PCSA: Creatinine: \>=150 micromoles per liter (mcmol/L) (adults), \>=30% change from baseline, \>=100% change from baseline; Blood urea nitrogen: \>=17 millimoles (mmol)/L. Criteria for PCSA: Glucose: \<=3.9 mmol/L and \<LLN; \>=11.1 mmol/L (unfasted \[unfas\]) or \>=7 mmol/L (fasted \[fas\]); Albumin: \<=25 g/L. Criteria for PCSA: Sodium: \<=129 mmol/L, \>=160 mmol/L; Potassium: \<3 mmol/L, \>=5.5 mmol/L and Chloride: \<80 mmol/L, \>115 mmol/L.
Time frame: 12 months
Number of Participants With Potentially Clinically Significant Vital Signs Abnormalities
Criteria for PCSA: Systolic blood pressure (SBP) supine: \<=95 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and DFB \>=20 mmHg; \>=160 mmHg and increase from baseline (IFB) \>=20 mmHg; Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) supine: \<=45 mmHg and DFB \>=10 mmHg; \>=110 mmHg and IFB \>=10 mmHg; SBP (Orthostatic): \<=-20 mmHg; DBP (Orthostatic): \<=-10 mmHg; Heart rate (HR) supine: \<=50 beats per minute (bpm) and DFB \>=20 bpm; \>=120 bpm and IFB \>=20 bpm; Weight: \>=5% DFB; \>=5% IFB.
Time frame: 12 months
Number of Participants With Abnormal Physical Examination Findings
Routine physical examinations will be conducted to assess participants for any physical manifestations of adverse effects or safety concerns. In the final report the number of participants with new abnormal physical examination findings will be reported.
Time frame: 12 months
Number of Participants With Significant Change in Transcranial Ultrasonography (TCS) of Substantia Nigra Region
Transcranial Ultrasonography detects the area of hyper-echogenicity in the region of substantia nigra (values greater than 0.2 cm square are considered abnormal. Improvement from baseline will be assessed and considered significant if greater than 15% from baseline.
Time frame: 12 months
Difference of dopamine turnover rate measured by Fluoro-Dopa-PET in the putamen between baseline and after 12 months of treatment.
Change from baseline to end of study (EOS) in F-DOPA imaging will be qualitative as assessed by independent expert in nuclear medicine in a central imaging center.
Time frame: 12 months
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