Michael J Fox

1. Public-Private Partnership Model:
The Parkinson’s Progression
Markers Initiative
•Sohini Chowdhury, Vice President, Research
Partnerships
Sept 16, 2011

2. Parkinson’s is a global disease and prevalence is growing
 Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease
that affects nearly six million worldwide.
 PD prevalence is expected to grow sizably over the next 25 years as the
proportion of older citizens continues to increase globally.
 Current therapies address mild/moderate motor symptoms
 There is currently no therapy proven to modify – slow or halt – the
progression of the disease.
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3. Drug development is a lengthy and costly process
Takes ~15 years for drug therapy to go through R&D and get to
market
~8 of those years are spent in clinical
testing
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4. Clinical testing of PD therapies is challenging
 Obstacles include:
• Current trial paradigm requires large number of subjects
• Efficacy testing is a long process, diminishing patent value
• Reliance on clinical measures alone confound trial interpretation
• There are no biological indications of underlying disease that
complement clinical changes
Increases risk for pharma, the main sponsors of therapeutic
trials

5. The Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI)
PPMI is a ground-breaking clinical study that aims to accelerate PD drug
development by identifying biomarkers of Parkinson’s Disease

6. Critical to PPMI’s success is recruiting a cohort of 600
21 sites in Europe and US are recruiting subjects; soon to be expanded to
Australia
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7. Various groups provide input/management of study facets
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8. Industry is a valuable partner

9. A strong emphasis on standardization and sharing SOPs
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10. A strong emphasis on recruitment
PPMI Enrollment Status
As of Sept 2011
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11. Data made available and shared in real-time via study website
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