The grant was awarded under the Foundation’s Therapeutics Development Initiative aimed at supporting preclinical development of Parkinson’s disease therapies that have the potential for fundamentally altering disease course and improving treatment of symptoms above and beyond current standards of care.
Acadia Pharma researchers will examine the effects of Nurr1-RXR agonists in preclinical models of Parkinson’s disease, focusing on neuroprotection, neuroregeneration, and motor performance.
Acadia Pharma CEO Uli Hacksell said that they are grateful for The Michael J Fox Foundation’s support of their Nurr1 program.
"We are committed to bringing forward therapies in this area of neurology and, in addition to preclinical programs addressing Nurr1 and ER-beta receptors for Parkinson’s disease, we are pursuing a Phase III program with pimavanserin for Parkinson’s disease psychosis," Hacksell said.