What is Parkinson's disease and what is UCB investigating?

What is Parkinson’s disease?

Parkinson’s disease is a complex condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged over many years.1,2

 

Main symptoms include slowness of movement, tremor (shaking) and rigidity (muscle stiffness). In addition, people can also experience fatigue, low blood pressure, as well as bladder and bowel problems.2–4

 

Why people develop Parkinson’s disease is not yet fully understood, however, it is thought that a combination of genetic, age and environmental factors cause certain brain cells to die.5

 

It is estimated that 8.5 million individuals were living with Parkinson’s in 2019.5,6 The number of people living with Parkinson’s disease is expected to exceed 12 million by 2040.6

Treatment for Parkinson’s disease

A major unmet need in Parkinson’s disease exists. Current therapies focus 
on managing symptoms and include drug treatments, physical activities 
and various therapy treatments such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy.1

There are no treatments available that are capable of slowing or halting the progression of Parkinson’s disease.7,8 Available therapies are only able to help manage symptoms and provide limited or temporary relief.2,9,10

Researchers are now working to see if they can develop treatments that can delay the progression of Parkinson’s disease.7 The aim is to slow the worsening of the neurodegenerative processes underlying disease progression, by blocking or interfering with the underlying causes of Parkinson’s disease.7,8

What is UCB investigating in Parkinson’s disease?

UCB is exploring new ways to improve symptom management, and if it is possible to slow or halt the progression of disease.

It is UCB’s long-term ambition to reduce the impact of Parkinson’s disease on individuals, so they are able to maintain their independence and quality of life for longer. We aim to change the treatment approach from symptom management to modifying the disease itself.

To find out more about clinical trials, please click here.

Partnering with people living with Parkinson’s disease

UCB is partnering with the Parkinson's community for a patient-centered approach to designing clinical trials.

To help improve the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease, UCB drives patient approaches and incorporates the patient voice into the design of clinical trials.

UCB has joined forces with patient organizations – Parkinson’s UK and the Parkinson’s Foundation, USA – and people living with Parkinson’s, to establish a Patient Engagement Council for Parkinson’s Research.

Partnering with Parkinson’s UK and the Parkinson’s Foundation, USA, helps UCB gather new insights to fully understand the impact of living with Parkinson’s disease.

Additionally, UCB is developing Patient Reported Outcome measures to establish new ways of measuring the impact of new treatment approaches.

  1. NHS. Parkinson's disease. Available at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/parkinsons-disease. Last accessed: May 2024.
  2. Jankovic J, et al. Parkinson's disease: etiopathogenesis and treatment. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2020;91(8):795–808.
  3. Cerri S, et al. Parkinson's Disease in Women and Men: What's the Difference? J Parkinson’s Dis. 2019;9(3):501–515.
  4. Simon DK, et al. Parkinson Disease Epidemiology, Pathology, Genetics, and Pathophysiology. Clin Geriatr Med. 2020;36(1):1–12.
  5. WHO. Parkinson disease. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/parkinson-disease. Last accessed: May 2024.
  6. Dorsey ER, et al. The Emerging Evidence of the Parkinson Pandemic. J Parkinson’s Dis. 2018;8(s1):S3–S8.
  7. Lang AE, et al. Disease Modification in Parkinson's Disease: Current Approaches, Challenges, and Future Considerations. Mov Disord. 2018;33(5):660–677.
  8. Hung AY, et al. Approaches to Disease Modification for Parkinson's Disease: Clinical Trials and Lessons Learned. Neurotherapeutics. 2020;17(4):1393–1405.
  9. Stocchi F, et al. How to optimize the treatment of early-stage Parkinson’s disease. Transl Neurodegener. 2015;4:4.
  10. Ntetsika T, et al. Novel targeted therapies for Parkinson's disease. Mol Med. 2021;27(1)1–20.