Announcements - Michael J. Fox grant to stop progression of Parkinson's disease

March 23, 2011 — Ottawa, Ontario

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive degenerative disorder affecting specialized groups of neurons in the brain resulting in disabling symptoms such as shaking, rigidity, and slowness of movement. As the number of people diagnosed with PD is increasing, the search for effective treatments reducing the burden of the disease is also growing. 

Recently, the Therapeutics Development Initiative Program of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research awarded a two-year grant of $476,000 to Zymes LLC, a New Jersey-based company, to evaluate novel therapeutic formulation for PD, which is based on 'solubilization' technology developed at NRC Institute for Biological Sciences (NRC-IBS).

WS-CoQ₁₀ was developed in the laboratories of Dr. Marianna Sikorska at NRC-IBS and licensed to Zymes LLC. This therapeutic formulation is comprised of two components, CoQ₁₀ and a prodrug form of vitamin E called PTS, which together form a water soluble complex that can penetrate into the brain. Upon systemic administration, PTS is converted to active vitamin E, yielding a unique formulation containing two bioactive, antioxidant and neuroprotective substances, CoQ₁₀ and vitamin E. CoQ₁₀ is also an essential electron carrier in the energy producing mitochondrial complexes of cells. This formulation is a perfect candidate to assist in the management of PD, in which both the energy failure and oxidative damage are responsible for the progressive nature of the disease.  

The grant awarded to Zymes will help to support research conducted at the NRC-IBS and the University of Windsor (UoW). The researchers, Drs. Marianna Sikorska and Jagdeep Sandhu (NRC-IBS) together with Drs. Siyaram Pandey and Jerome Cohen (UoW) will evaluate the effects of Zymes' water-soluble CoQ₁₀ formulation (WS-CoQ₁₀) in animal models of PD.

Positive results from this project entitled "Evaluation of the neuroprotective ability of Zymes' water-soluble CoQ₁₀ (WS-CoQ₁₀) in animal models of Parkinson's disease: preclinical validation and dose optimization for clinical study" may very well lead to a subsequent testing in humans. 

Dr. Jim Richards, Director General of the NRC-IBS finds the results most promising. He said, "We are pleased to see the work of Drs Sikorska and Sandhu contributing to the development of a valuable therapeutic application of this NRC technology. The support from Zymes together with the partnership with the University of Windsor provide a good example of how NRC contributes to addressing important health care issues."

About The Michael J. Fox Foundation

Founded in 2000, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research is dedicated to ensuring the development of a cure for Parkinson's disease within the coming decade through an aggressively funded research agenda and to ensuring the development of improved therapies for those living with Parkinson's today. The Foundation has funded nearly $140 million in research to date.