Shared from parkinsonsnewstoday.com.
The first three patients treated with ANPD001, a cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease, showed reduced motor symptoms and improved daily functioning over six months, without any serious side effects.
That’s according to early data from the Phase 1/2a ASPIRO (NCT06344026) study, an open-label clinical trial testing the safety and tolerability of ANPD001 over one year when injected at either of two doses in adults with moderate to advanced Parkinson’s. Researchers are also tracking changes in on time, or periods when motor symptoms are adequately controlled.
“In this first-of-its-kind study, we are seeing clinician-reported and patient-reported improvements as well as a strong safety and tolerability profile at six months,” Edward Wirth III, MD, PhD, chief medical officer at developer Aspen Neuroscience, said in a company press release.
The data were presented in a poster at the 30th World Congress on Parkinson’s Disease and Related Disorders, held May 7–10 in New York. An abstract for the poster, “Safety, tolerability, and efficacy of intracranial delivery of autologous iPSC-derived dopaminergic precursors in moderate to advanced Parkinson’s disease,” was published in Parkinsonism & Related Disorders.
Parkinson’s symptoms result from the loss of dopaminergic neurons, the nerve cells that produce dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is involved in motor control, and low levels of dopamine lead to slowed or stiff movements, tremors, and problems with balance.