The Australian Parkinson’s Mission (APM) is an Australian-based, international collaboration involving a revolutionary clinical trial design using potential repurposed drugs as well as genomics research.
Approximately 100,000 people live with Parkinson’s Disease in Australia, with a further 14,000 diagnosed each year.
Current PD treatments target symptoms of the disease, rather than preventing disease progression. APM aims to develop a framework over the next five years to promote effective and individualised treatments to slow the disease progression for Parkinson’s patients.
APM Collaborators
- Michael J Fox Foundation (USA)
- The Cure Parkinson’s Trust (UK)
- Garvan Institute of Medical Research
- Shake It Up Australia Foundation
- Parkinson’s Australia
- The University of Sydney
About the APM study
Recruitment will commence in March 2020. Recruitment is open to people with Parkinson’s disease, including newly diagnosed and those who have been living with the disease for some time.
Recruitment sites will initially commence in the main cities within Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, with plans to extend recruitment to Australian regional centres.
Participants in the study will undergo genetic and biomarker analysis so that researchers can classify genetic variations specific to their disease. Participants will then be enrolled in trials utilizing repurposed drugs proposed to have a disease modifying effect in Parkinson’s disease.
The benefits of using repurposed drugs is that they have already gone through the expensive and time-consuming clinical trials to get them to market. One of the aims of APM is to offer a faster process from lab to market for people with PD.
Potential benefits of the study include;
- Measurement of disease progression through biomarker analysis
- Individualisation of drug treatment for PD patients
- Protocol development for screening and early intervention of people at high risk of PD
- Development of a PD sub-classification based on patients’ DNA
For more information, go to www.theapm.org.au, contact the APM via email at info@TheAPM.org.au or phone 1300 770577.
Links to partner websites as follows:
http://www.cureparkinsons.org.uk