The company begins clinical development of yet another potential new treatment of Parkinson’s disease with the enrollment of the first participant in a phase I study with the compound Lu AF82422.

Lu AF82422, which was invented by Lundbeck in collaboration with Genmab, is the first antibody ever that Lundbeck brings into clinical development. In the phase 1 study it will be studied in both healthy volunteers and patients with Parkinson’s disease.

A human antibody

Lu AF82422 is a human antibody targeting the toxic proteins causing the death of brain cells that leads to Parkinson’s disease. The compound is thought to work like the body’s natural antibodies when the immune system works to remove harmful proteins. As it targets the underlying biology of the disease, Lu AF82422 may potentially not only treat its symptoms, but might also slow or stop its progression.

“We are excited to start the clinical development of this highly innovative potential treatment. The biologic approach may potentially enable to us to provide a much better treatment than what is available today”, says Anders Gersel Pedersen, Executive Vice President, Research and Development at Lundbeck.

The third new potential treatment of Parkinsons

Lu AF82422 is the third potential new treatment of Parkinson’s disease that Lundbeck adds to its clinical pipeline in 2018 following the inclusion of Lu AF28996 and foliglurax. Further to this, Lundbeck in May started clinical development of Lu AF76432 for the treatment of schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease, meaning that a total of four new compounds has been added to the pipeline this year.