Inland Northwest Research Screens First Patient Worldwide for Study of Investigational Parkinson’s Disease Drug

GAP-Net site Inland Northwest Research LLC screened the first patient in the Roche PADOVA study for an investigational Parkinson’s disease drug.

Spokane, Washington (April 12, 2021) – Inland Northwest Research, LLC screened the first patient worldwide for the Parkinson’s Disease PADOVA study. The Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation® (GAP) is helping study sponsor Roche (SIX: ROG) accelerate recruitment processes with GAP Network (GAP-Net) sites across North America, including Inland Northwest Research.

“We are pleased to offer people living with Parkinson’s disease in our area the opportunity to take part in clinical trials that are high impact,” said Inland Northwest’s PI, Jason Aldred, MD FAAN. “If you have an early Parkinson’s diagnosis, participation in this study is a way for you to play a critical role in the search for a breakthrough to slow down the progression of PD.”

The PADOVA study is a Phase IIB double-blind study that will evaluate the safety and efficacy of Roche’s investigational intravenous (IV) monoclonal antibody candidate prasinezumab. The investigational drug, which is being developed through a worldwide collaboration between Roche and Prothena, targets alpha-synuclein, a protein that forms clumps and is suspected of being toxic and giving rise to Parkinson’s. The medication was shown to slow progressively declining motor function versus placebo in the Phase II PASADENA study and to be generally safe and well-tolerated. 18 GAP-Net sites are participating in the PADOVA study.

“People with Parkinson’s are eager for treatments to slow, stop, or prevent the disease,” said GAP President John Dwyer. “The path to treatments that work depends upon having volunteers involved in clinical research. Prasinezumab presents a potential solution to the world’s fastest growing and second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease.”

Both GAP and Roche are eager to learn more about the efficacy and safety of prasinezumab. Current treatments for Parkinson’s Disease may help manage motor symptoms such as tremors, slow movement, and balance problems through dopamine replacement therapy and dopamine receptor agonists. But there are no approved treatments with demonstrated effects on underlying pathology capable of altering the disease course for people living with Parkinson’s.

GAP brings its recruitment and study start up expertise and relationship with GAP-Net sites across the continent to overcome time-restricting barriers and accelerate study enrollment. PADOVA will enroll 575 participants across eight countries and 120 sites overall.

To be eligible for the PADOVA study, a participant must be 50 to 85 years old and have an early idiopathic Parkinson’s disease diagnosis (meaning the cause is unknown). Patients currently on stable doses of MAO-B inhibitors or L-Dopa can participate in this study.

About Inland Northwest Research, LLC

INWR is a biomedical research company focused on clinical trials for movement disorders including Parkinson’s disease, Huntington disease, essential tremor, and dystonia.  Their work includes experimental therapeutics in the areas of symptomatic and disease modifying trials as well as pharmaceutical and device trials including deep brain stimulation for movement disorders. They are fortunate to have a great deal of active interest in clinical trials from those living with these conditions in the inland and pacific northwest who contribute their efforts to make current experimental therapies a future reality.

About the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation® (GAP)

The Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation® (GAP) is a patient-centric nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the delivery of innovative therapies for neurological disorders by reducing the duration and cost of clinical trials. Research centers across the US and Canada are part of the growing GAP Network (GAP-Net). GAP supports GAP-Net research centers by assisting with study start up and recruitment activities, promoting diversity in research studies, and offering national programs that champion brain health and the citizen scientists who make research possible.

Contact: Pamela Larkin – pamelalarkin@rational360.com, 408-466-5952

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