Herantis Pharma granted €3.6m to assess treatment for Parkinson’s disease

The progressive neurological condition affects around 153,000 people in the UK

Herantis Pharma has been awarded €3.6m in funding from Parkinson’s UK’s Virtual Biotech programme and the Michael J. Fox Foundation to finance its early-stage clinical trial in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and its ongoing biomarker project.

The phase 1b clinical trial is evaluating the tolerability and safety of HER-096 in PD patients and collecting exploratory biomarker data for future clinical trials.

Affecting around 153,000 people in the UK, PD is a progressive neurological condition that damages parts of the brain over time, causing tremors, slow movement and stiff and inflexible muscles.

Previously tested in a study involving 60 healthy participants, HER-096 has been shown to be safe with no serious side effects.

The new trial being carried out in Finland aims to test whether regular injections of HER-096 are safe in 24 people with PD, compared to placebo, twice a week for four weeks, while being monitored for any side effects.

The new drug has similar properties to Cerebral Dopamine Neurotrophic Factor, a large protein that helps damaged dopamine cells survive and recover, and aims to protect and restore the dopamine-producing brain cells that are lost in PD.

Researchers will collect data from the study to identify the best dosage to use to progress in larger clinical studies, as well as analyse blood samples and fluid collected by lumbar punctures to find evidence of whether the treatment is having a positive effect on brain cells.

Herantis’ chief executive officer, Antti Vuolanto, commented: “This external validation of Herantis’ science recognises the potential of HER-096 as a promising drug candidate for treatment of PD.”

If successful, HER-096 could offer patients with PD a less invasive treatment to recover dopamine-producing brain cells that get destroyed by the disease.

“Disease-modifying treatments that can meaningfully slow the progression of PD are a desperate unmet need for the millions living with this devastating condition,” explained Dr Arthur Roach, director of Parkinson’s Virtual Biotech, Parkinson’s UK.