Ceregene Drug Fails in Parkinson’s Trial

Luke Timmerman12/1/08

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 Biotech Editor of Xconomy, and the Editor of Xconomy Seattle. E-mail him at ltimmerman@xconomy.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ldtimmerman.