[LindaH]

Good article in current Nature News examines the past, current status and future of gdnf research.

Still one of the most promising treatments in development, inspite of all the barriers placed in its way.

Truths about the amgen trial now are finally being discussed and reported -- GDNF didn’t fail, but the trial design did.
Dr. Clive Svendsen, a highly repected neuroscientist is quoted saying about the Amgen phase II trial

"That trial was basically designed to fail," says Clive Svendsen, a neuroscientist who was a consultant to Amgen on the study. Amgen chose a catheter that was thicker than Gill's (used in the phase I trials), dripping GDNF into the brain rather than delivering it under pressure. Consequently, the GDNF solution simply refluxed up the outside of the catheter, says Svendsen, now director of the Regenerative Medicine Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Amgen declined to comment about the trial for this story. In 2004, amid a huge spate of negative publicity, it mothballed its GDNF project."

It was a “business decision”

so much time has been wasted!

The article also discusses ArmaGen's (a small biotech) research on a non-surgical treatment that passes thru the BBB to deliver GDNF. They had . promising pre-clinical results but they might run out of ,money before it gets thru the cliunical trial process and they haven’t found more funding. Will we loose out again due to “business decisions?

Also discuses Ceregene's research with neurturin and other upcoming trials for gene
therapy and stem cell delivery method. There are of course disagreements about which delivery method will work best.

So close and yet so far away...

see free article at:

http://www.nature.com/news/2010/1008...l/466916a.html

comments are accepted
linda

[Debi Brooks]

It may not be clear but I just wanted to explicitly link this to the earlier threads on continued investment in trophic factors by MJFF. Most of the current work mentioned in this article is moving ahead with funding from either our recent LEAP awards (Ceregene and Medgenesis--where Eric Mohr works) or from our earlier BBB delivery challenge (Partridge work)...this area continues to be an exciting, high priority area of research into disease modification for MJFF.
Debi