Patient Group Collaborations Continue as Sanofi, Michael J Fox. Foundation Team Up
Following in the footsteps of other successful partnerships between pharmaceutical manufacturers and patient groups, French life sciences company Sanofi is teaming up with the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) to collaborate on testing a new treatment for Parkinson's disease.
The partnership will test a compound known as AVE 8112, a phosphodiesterase type 4 inhibitor, in a phase 1 b clinical trial to assess the drug's safety and tolerability, Sanofi said in a statement.
"We hope to… pool our resources and maximize the potential of our drug portfolio to address unmet medical needs," said Sanofi's Elias Zerhouni, president of global R&D.
Partnerships between drug company and patient advocacy groups have worked to great success in recent months. Vertex Pharmaceuticals's Kalydeco (ivacaftor), used for treating cystic fibrosis in patient with a specific gene defect, was developed in partnership with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in January 2012.
Both foundations have poured significant resources into creating infrastructure that can be used to support research.
The MJFF announced in December 2011 the launch of its Fox Trial Finder, which connects Parkinson's patients with open clinical trials and will be likely be used to help seed the Sanofi trial with patients. CFF meanwhile has invested more than $75 million into the development of Kalydeco, has established a patient registry of thousands of cystic fibrosis patients and supports a number of research centers across the US, all of which have supported its research efforts.
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Sanofi and Michael J. Fox Foundation Collaborate on Potential New Treatment for Parkinson's Disease