The PRECEPT (CEP1347) trial was run with great hope. This drug was found to be safe in humans (phase 1) and on rats and monkeys, it actually slowed or stopped the progression of PD. And the drug company was so confident the drug would work on hymans that it ran a phase 2/3 clinical trial with 800 people with early PD, who had not yet started any traditional PD meds.

After 2+ years, the trial failed spectacularly. After reviewing the interim results, scientists found that not only did the drug not work, the people on the placebo did better than the people receiving the drug. What a shock for all.

But after all that, scientists decided to start a follow-on trial for the 800 people in the original - PRECEPT - trial. The new trial is named "POSTCEP" And these 800 people will be followed through POSTCEP until the end of their lives (or until the funding money runs out...) As one study doctor told me, "these 800 people are like a "control group" for PWP and we can learn a lot by following them. We've never had such a large group to study before."

As part of PRECEPT, the trial participants had a SPECT brain scan every two years. Its goal was to prove that SPECT and beta-cit could be used as a diagnostic tool for PD. And since then a new SPECT scan trial was begun to follow the folks in POSTCEPT for four more years - this time to follow and document the progression of PD.

While here at Yale, I"ve chatted with others from the original PRECEPT trial. We were extremely sorry when the original trial failed. But we are all proud to be a part of the follow-on studies. Scientists will gain knowledge about the progression of PD.