World’s Largest Parkinson’s Progression Trial Launches Across UK
Current treatments for Parkinson’s disease symptoms become less effective over prolonged periods, making it vital to find therapies that can slow or halt disease progression itself. Now, the world’s largest clinical trial targeting that goal has launched across the United Kingdom.
The Edmond J. Safra Accelerating Clinical Trials in Parkinson’s Disease (EJS ACT-PD) initiative has enrolled over 1,600 participants across more than 40 hospitals. Led jointly by University College London and Newcastle University, the trial employs an innovative platform design that allows multiple treatments to be tested simultaneously—potentially reducing by years the time needed to evaluate new drug candidates.
The stakes are significant: around 166,000 people in the UK live with Parkinson’s disease, yet no approved therapies exist that can slow or halt the underlying disease progression.
“The next stage of this innovative trial represents a landmark moment in the search for new treatments for Parkinson’s disease, helping improve quality of life for patients,” said Professor John Simpson, Director of the Medical Research Council, United Kingdom and National Institute for Health Research Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme. “This world-leading trial allows experts to test multiple treatments simultaneously to accelerate the discovery of new drugs.”
Read more about the trial.
