Parkinson's disease pipeline at highly innovative stage, with 37% of products first-in-class

The current pipeline of treatments for Parkinson’s disease is a site of great innovation, with 37% of 302 products holding first-in-class status, according to business intelligence provider GBI Research.

Its latest report cites 90 first-in-class programs, acting on 39 first-in-class targets, are in early development, with the majority involved in functional processes related to Parkinson's, giving them the neuroprotective potential to delay or halt disease progression.

Angel Wong, an analyst at GBI, said: “Although the exact mechanisms that initiate PD’s onset are unclear, there is increasing knowledge of the neuroanatomy and fundamental molecular processes underlying PD neurodegeneration. This understanding is helped by the ongoing identification of both causative genes in familial PD and susceptibility genes. While a small number of first-in-class products target these genes, analysis shows a weak association between the genes and the known dysfunctional processes, suggesting that the former plays a minor role in contributing to PD. It is therefore likely that agents directly targeting the functional processes affected in PD have more chance of becoming effective treatments and transforming the future market landscape.”