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PARKINSON DISEASE

Parkinson disease and growth factors — is GDNF good enough?

Previous open-label trials testing glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) family ligands in Parkinson disease have shown promising clinical effects. However, in placebo-controlled trials, the treatments have failed. A new randomized placebo-controlled trial of intraputamenal delivery of GDNF designed to resolve this conundrum has again failed to do just that.

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Correspondence to Agnete Kirkeby or Roger A. Barker.

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Competing interests

A.K. is the owner of the company Kirkeby Cell Therapy holding patents for the development of cell therapies for Parkinson disease (PD). A.K. and R.A.B. are consultants for Novo Nordisk A/S on the development of cell therapies for PD. R.A.B. also works as a consultant on cell-based therapies for Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics, Cellino and Living Cell Technologies.

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The Parkinson’s Drug Trial: A Miracle Cure?: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00031cb

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Kirkeby, A., Barker, R.A. Parkinson disease and growth factors — is GDNF good enough?. Nat Rev Neurol 15, 312–314 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-019-0180-6

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