Oxford BioMedica has unveiled promising additional results from the low-dose cohort of patients in the Phase I/II trial of its novel gene therapy, ProSavin, for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
The company said that the three patients in this cohort showed improved motor function in the ‘off’ state, of an average of 30% at six months. None of them showed any evidence of adverse events or immunologic reactions to the treatment, which is administered directly to the striatum in the brain and all showed improvement in quality of life.
The principal investigator for the trial, Stephane Palfi from the Henri Mondor Hospital in Paris, presented the data at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington DC, USA. He said it is very encouraging that the early trend in benefit with the low dose of ProSavin has been maintained at six months, adding that “if the higher levels of efficacy are confirmed as the trial progresses, ProSavin would represent a fundamental new treatment option”.
John Dawson, chief executive at Oxford BioMedica, said the firm is “delighted by the progress of the Phase I/II trial”. Data from the high-dose group will be reported in the first half of 2009 and he noted that “we are advancing our discussions with potential partners with the aim of accelerating development and commercialisation of the product.”
