Pfizer among pharma firms to join Parkinson’s initiative

Pfizer is one of seven global pharmaceutical companies to join a new initiative designed to improve clinical trials for Parkinson's.

Set up by Parkinson’s UK and the Critical Path Institute, the Critical Path for Parkinson's aims to encourage drug manufacturers, researchers and regulators to work closer together on treatments for the condition.

AstraZeneca, UCB, AbbVie, Biogen, Merck Sharp & Dohme and Eli Lilly and Company are the other six companies to be taking part.

Diane Stephenson, PhD, executive director of the Critical Path for Parkinson’s consortium, said the pharmaceutical industry realises that "collaboration among industry, academia, and worldwide regulatory agencies, along with the sharing of data, has the potential to create a more efficient development process".

The consortium was set up in October 2015 and director of research for Parkinson's UK Dr Arthur Roach said there is a dire need for new treatments to deal with the "devastating" effects of Parkinson's, as the development of new treatments has not kept up with advances in the general understanding of Parkinson's.