" Alpha synuclein binding antibodies in Parkinson's are a disappointment”

This is how an opinion of the German Society for Neurology can be summed up (DGN) bring to the point.

Those affected, like me, who have been involved in research and development in the fight against Parkinson's in recent years, have not been able to avoid the protein alpha-synuclein.

According to a hypothesis favored by quite a few brain researchers, the deposits of alpha-synuclein are responsible for the death of brain cells and are therefore possibly one of the causes of Parkinson's.

If this hypothesis is correct, then it makes sense to look for antibodies that keep alpha-synuclein in check.

And it is precisely such a search that the DGN press release refers to when it writes: In two randomized, placebo-controlled studies, alpha-synuclein-binding antibodies were tested in patients in the early stages of Parkinson's disease.

After the completion of two “phase 2 trials” of potential future therapies, no significant effects on clinical progression or imaging findings were demonstrated.

Professor Lars Timmermann, deputy president of the DGN, says in a statement from the specialist society on Wednesday that the available data are relatively sobering. However, Timmermann is not entirely pessimistic about the situation, because research is currently being carried out into so-called small molecules and other therapeutic approaches to prevent the supposedly disease-causing protein accumulations.

It remains to be seen whether these substances may have a greater effect.

Jurgen Zender, 20.08.2022