I am hoping this hasn't been posted already, but this bears repeating and may be of great interest in the development of new drugs/treatments.

The last really "new" drug approved for Parkinson's was Comtan -or generic name Entacapone in 1999. Rxlist.com says this: "Entacapone is an inhibitor of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), used in the treatment of Parkinson's Disease as an adjunct to levodopa/carbidopa therapy.

Azilect is another form of MAO-Inhibitor, so I didn't count it as new. And Parcopa is just a predissolved form of L-dopa, and Stalevo is a combination of L-dopa and Comtan.

So unless I am wrong it has been a decade since an all new discovery in Parkinsoon's medications has been made. (noto counting DBS, also)

Thus, I am excited about this effort announced in the Wall Street Journal!

"Pfizer Inc. will announce Tuesday a collaboration with University of California, San Francisco, to spur the discovery of new medicines, in the latest instance of a drug maker tapping outside experts for research-and-development help."

The collaboration tackles a particularly difficult stage of drug development—the translation of early scientific research into marketable treatments. That stage of R&D is often referred to as the "Valley of Death" because so many promising compounds fail to advance.

Under the terms, Pfizer would pay up to $85 million over the next five years to help explore whether discoveries in UCSF labs could be turned into new biologic medicines. UCSF researchers will be able to draw upon Pfizer's drug-development know-how, such as its expertise.
* * *
UCSF researchers would be allowed to publish the results of their work, and the university would share with Pfizer ownership rights of any promising developments.
Read full article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...ist_smartbrief

Should I be excited???? How can we as patients promote this effort?
Peg