Biotech, Gene Therapy, Parkinson's

Ceregene Drug Fails in Parkinson’s Trial

Luke Timmerman 12/1/08

Ceregene said its experimental gene therapy technique for Parkinson’s disease failed in a mid-stage clinical trial of 58 patients. The San Diego-based biotech company said its injectable treatment, CERE-120, didn’t offer a signficant improvement compared with a placebo. Ceregene’s chief scientist, Raymond Bartus, said in a statement he was “stunned” by the result, and will continue to analyze the findings to figure out why it turned negative. The company also has treatments in development for Alzheimer’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease, and eye conditions.

Luke Timmerman is the National Biotechnology Editor for Xconomy. You can e-mail him at ltimmerman@xconomy.com, call 206-624-2374, or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ldtimmerman.