Critical Path for Parkinson’s

Overview

The Problem

Parkinson’s affects over 10 million individuals worldwide, but there is currently no cure and only limited treatments to manage its progression, which impacts both motor and nonmotor functions. This wide range of manifestations makes it difficult to both fully capture the real-life experiences of individuals living with Parkinson’s and to measure the efficacy of drugs in clinical trials in this heterogeneous population.

Existing approaches and measures used to evaluate Parkinson’s fail to capture the aspects of the disease that hold genuine significance for people living with Parkinson’s and their care partners. Thus, there is an urgent need to redefine and expand our understanding of the early stages of Parkinson’s.

The Solution

The focus on the impact of early-stage Parkinson’s Disease (PD) will enable us to reach a greater number of individuals affected by the disease and effectively address their specific needs, ensuring improved outcomes and a better quality of life.

The goal of the CPP Consortium is to broadly advance the drug development landscape for Parkinson’s prevention and treatment by working collaboratively with the Parkinson’s Disease global community to share data, knowledge, and resources towards the development and regulatory endorsement of novel drug development tools.

We do this by prioritizing efforts focused on broadening populations for trial recruitment, collecting, understanding, and sharing real-world data, and by leveraging innovative technologies to capture what truly matters.

The Impact

With a focus on the “right drug, right patient, right time” approach, CPP streamlines regulatory processes to optimize drug development with greater efficiency in advancing data-driven solutions for clinical trials. CPP aims to align with regulatory strategies spanning from model-informed drug development, patient-focused drug development, digital heath technologies, biomarkers, and real-world data.

Regulatory Endorsement

Regulatory Endorsement

Accelerating effective treatments for Parkinson’s by engaging with regulators to foster advancements in research for expanded treatment options.

Data Collaboration

Integrated Parkinson's Database

Empowering researchers with comprehensive patient-level data for enhanced Parkinson’s research and optimized clinical trial design.

Parkinson's Icon

Shaping the Parkinson's Landscape

Pioneering accurate diagnosis, personalized treatments, and patient-centric advancements for improved outcomes in Parkinson’s care.

Innovation

Leading Digital Health Innovations

Optimizing device-agnostic Digital Health Technologies for Parkinson’s research, empowering drug development, gaining valuable insights.

Integrated Parkinson’s Database

The database includes integrated and standardized data from both PD observational studies and randomized clinical trials and contains thousands of participants’ data, anonymized and deidentified. The database covers over 600 variables, such as demographic information, clinical measures, medication usage data, dropouts, and more.

The CPP integrated database is rich in patient-level outcome measures and includes item level patient level data. It contains limited biomarker and genetics data and does not include data collected using digital health technologies. In accordance with the Data Contribution Agreements between CPP and data contributors, CPP is obligated to protect the identity of the individual datasets and provides access to the datasets in aggregate with masked study identifiers.

To read more about the Integrated Parkinson’s Database, including FAQs, click here.


We would like to thank our collaborators for their generous contributions to the CPP integrated Parkinson’s Database. View acknowledgements.

GEM-PD

Overview FAQ Icon

Launching in 2025, C-Path’s new initiative, Gender Equitable Medicines for Parkinson’s Disease (GEM-PD) seeks to generate drug development solutions that will lead to more equitable approaches to detection, disease management, and therapies for all individuals living with Parkinson’s. GEM-PD addresses the unique impacts of Parkinson’s on women and individuals across the gender spectrum, with personalized treatments and innovative technologies. Meaningful initial funding is in place to initiate GEM-PD, advancing C-Path’s vision of a future with inclusive therapies for all Parkinson’s patients.

Our Approach FAQ Icon

Through our expansive network and tried-and-true approach to advance data, tools, and global partnerships, we remove the bottlenecks that slow progress in creating equitable drug development solutions for Parkinson’s patients worldwide. Over the coming months, we look forward to keeping C-Path partners and the community involved on our progress and impact. Stay in touch by subscribing below and following our LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and YouTube. 

Impact of Initial Support FAQ Icon

We are grateful for the support that enables us to build on C-Path’s decade of Parkinson’s research and 20 years of advancing drug development across multiple therapeutic areas. GEM-PD will allow us to take our trusted approach to actionable solutions to a new level by investing in advanced Parkinson’s research and development, along with forging critical partnerships to maximize our impact.

We recognize that many diseases could benefit from a gender-equitable approach to treatments. While the current focus is on Parkinson’s, we are actively exploring opportunities to expand the initiative to other areas. We will keep the community informed of any future developments.

Get Involved FAQ Icon

As we lay the foundation for GEM-PD, we will have opportunities to collaborate, including partnerships, donations, and other ways to support groundbreaking research in Parkinson’s disease.

We welcome additional investments to amplify this transformative initiative. If your organization is interested in joining the journey, please reach out to us, and for individual donations, visit our Give page.

Early Motor Parkinson’s DAT Clinical Trial Enrichment Tool

This quantitative clinical trial enrichment tool helps optimize clinical trial design in the early-motor stages of Parkinson’s, using MDS-UPDRS part III as the primary endpoint. For scientists and clinicians of all backgrounds, a cloud-based graphical user interface (GUI) has been developed, which allows a user-friendly experience to perform simulations based on the model.

Regulatory Successes

Why is it important to achieve regulatory success?

Regulatory endorsement relieves trial sponsors of the burden of having to convince the regulators that methods are reliable and reproducible and could accelerate effective patient treatments. Tools endorsed by regulators save time and money, which incentivizes more trials, which results in increased chances of getting more Parkinson’s disease treatments approved.

YearAgencyTypeDescriptionLink
2015FDALetter of supportExploratory prognostic biomarkers for enrichment in early-stage Parkinson's disease LINK clinical trials; molecular neuroimaging biomarker: dopamine trransporterhttps://www.fda.gov/media/112637/download
2016EMALetter of supportMolecular imaging of the dopamine transporter biomarker as an enrichment biomarker LINK for clinical trials for early Parkinson's diseasehttps://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/other/letter-support-molecular-imaging-dopamine-transporter-biomarker-enrichment-biomarker-clinical-trials_en.pdf
2018EMAQualification opinionMolecular neuroimaging of the dopamine transporter as biomarker to identify patients LINK with early manifest Parkinsonism in Parkinson's diseasehttps://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/regulatory-procedural-guideline/qualification-opinion-dopamine-transporter-imaging-enrichment-biomarker-parkinsons-disease-clinical_en.pdf
2019FDACritical path innovation meetingDigital drug development tools for early Parkinson’s disease clinical trials
2019EMAInnovative task forceDigital drug development tools for early Parkinson’s disease clinical trials
2022EMALetter of supportModel-based clinical trial simulation platform to optimize design of efficacy evaluation LINK studies in Parkinson’s diseasehttps://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/other/letter-support-model-based-clinical-trial-simulation-platform-optimize-design-efficacy-evaluation_en.pdf
2024FDALetter of SupportEnabling Clinical trials of Biologically defined Neuronal Synuclein disease: A Road to Preventionhttps://www.fda.gov/media/181368/download?attachment

Impact Videos

Changing the face of clinical trials for Parkinson’s FAQ Icon

Florence Pite Memorial Lecture, London, November 15, 2017

From our Founding Partner, Parkinson's UK: Accelerating Better Treatments in Years, Not Decades FAQ Icon

Understanding the Drug Development Process: Explained by The Michael J. Fox Foundation FAQ Icon

How NASA’s Space Simulations Mirror the Benefits of Clinical Trial Tools FAQ Icon

Parkinson’s Through the Eyes of Carl Ames: A Patient’s Perspective FAQ Icon

Collaborators

Founding Partners FAQ Icon
Collaborators FAQ Icon
  • Karim Azer, PhD, Critical Path Advisor, Quantitative Systems Pharmacology and Systems Biology
  • Bastiaan Bloem, MD., Ph.D. Professor of Neurology, Center for Parkinsons, Radboud University
  • Peter Bloomingdale, PhD – Critical Path Advisor, Modeling & Simulation and QSP
  • Jesse Cedarbaum, MD. FAAN Neurology, Founder & Head, Coeruleus Clinical Sciences, LLC
  • Ray Dorsey, MD., MBA. Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Rochester
  • Sue Dubman, Director, IT & Informatics, UCSF
  • Mike Edwards, Ph.D. Professor and Area Head, Quantitative Psychology, Arizona State University
  • Derek Hill, Ph.D. President, Panoramic Digital Health
  • Karl Kieburtz, MD, MPH. Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Rochester
  • Sheng Luo, Ph.D. Associate Professor in Biostatistics, Duke University
  • Eric Macklin, Ph.D. Assistant in Biostatistics, Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Walter Maetzler, MD. Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Kiel
  • Ken Marek, MD. Senior Scientist, Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases
  • Brit Mollenhauer, MD. Associate Professor, University of Gottingen Medical Center
  • George Roussos, Ph.D. Professor of Pervasive Computing, Birkbeck, University of London
  • David Russell, MD. Director, Clinical Research, Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases
  • Michael Schwarzschild, MD, Ph.D. Director, Molecular Neurobiology, Massachusetts General Hospital
  • John Seibyl, MD. Executive Director & Senior Scientist, Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases
  • Ira Shoulson, MD. Professor of Neurology, University of Rochester
  • Tanya Simuni, MD. Professor of Neurology (Movement Disorders), Northwestern University
  • Glenn Stebbins, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University
  • Charles Venuto, PharmD. Associate Professor, Department of Neurology, University of Rochester
  • Daniel Weintraub, MD. Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania
3DT Collaborators FAQ Icon
  • Jamie Adams, MD. Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology (Movement Disorders), University of Rochester
  • Bastiaan Bloem, MD., Ph.D. Professor of Neurology, Center for Parkinsons, Radboud University
  • Camille Carroll, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Neurology, University of Plymouth
  • Jesse Cedarbaum, MD. FAAN Neurology, Founder & Head, Coeruleus Clinical Sciences, LLC.
  • Derek Hill, MD. President, Panoramic Digital Health
  • Melissa Kostrzebski, Senior Project Manager/Clinical Trials, University of Rochester
  • Jennifer Mammen, Ph.D. APRN-CNP., Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, The University of Rhode Island
  • Anat Mirelman, Ph.D. Director, Laboratory for Early Markers of Neurodegeneration, Tel Aviv Medical Center
  • George Roussos, Ph.D. Professor of Pervasive Computing, Birkbeck, University of London
  • Lisa Shipley, PhD, Shipley Pharma Insights
  • Tanya Simuni, MD. Professor of Neurology (Movement Disorders), Northwestern University
  • Glenn Stebbins, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University

Team

Co-Directors

Laura Gaetano, PhD
3DT Member Co-Director, Novartis

Gennaro Pagano, PhD
Member Co-Director, Roche

C-Path Team

Diane Stephenson, PhD
Vice President of Neurology, Executive Director, Critical Path for Parkinson

Klaus Romero, MD, MS
Chief Executive Officer, Chief Science Officer

J. Rubin Abrams, PhD
Quantitative Medicine Scientist

Roopal Bhatnagar, MS
Data Analyst II, Data Collaboration Center

Laura Carrillo, MPH
Project Manager II, Critical Path for Parkinson’s Consortium

Kimberly CollinsPhD
Senior Quantitative Scientist, Pharmacometrics

Shasta Jorgensen, MPH
Senior Project Manager

Grace Lee, PhD
Quantitative Medicine Scientist

Erin Lowry
Senior Project Coordinator, Critical Path for Parkinson’s Consortium

Martijn Müller, PhD
Senior Scientific Director, Critical Path for Parkinson’s Consortium

Albert Barrera, M.H.Sc
Data Collaboration Center

Sakshi Sardar, PhD
Quantitative Medicine Scientist, Quantitative Medicine

Robert Stafford, MA
Data Manager, Data Collaboration Center

For more information on the Critical Path for Parkinson’s (CPP) Consortium, please contact CPP Executive Director Dr. Diane Stephenson at DStephenson@c-path.org.

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