AAN 2025 | The Phase II ASCEND trial: solengepras in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease

So we wanted to test this novel mechanism of action in inhibiting GPR6 with solengepras and several studies were performed for proof-of-concept both in patients who had off time or later in Parkinson’s but also in early Parkinson’s disease as monotherapy where we added in patients who were randomized either a placebo or a dose of solengepras, a low dose or a higher dose. And most of these patients who came in had a mean duration of Parkinson’s disease diagnosis of approximately a year. And when they were randomized to receiving solengepras at a different dose or placebo, we’re able to see a trend for improvement in motor function. But interestingly, we also saw what seemed to be improvement in non-motor symptoms. And it’s very important to recognize that often our dopaminergic therapies are limited by adverse events that occur, sometimes worsening underlying non-motor symptoms that reflect the widespread degeneration in Parkinson’s disease and the neurochemical derangements that accompany that. In this study, ASCEND, solengepras seemed to improve motor symptoms and seem to improve some of the non-motor symptoms, not worsen them. So it really was a very, very interesting study to us because it gave us the idea that if we could further pursue trials to really explore both the motor and non-motor benefit that solengepras may have in inhibiting GPR6 and reducing the hyperactivity of the indirect pathway, we might be able to benefit patients in more than just the motor aspects of the disease, but also in the non-motor aspects of the disease, which are so important and often are identified by patients as even as or more troubling than the motor symptoms.

This transcript is AI-generated. While we strive for accuracy, please verify this copy with the video.