There are definite perks to sticking with the same job for several years. For me, it means the chance to see the progression of research findings I first wrote about in their infancy actually enter human testing. Last week Raptor Pharmaceuticals, based in Novato, Calif., reported positive results in a clinical trial of a possible treatment for Huntington's disease called RP103. RP103 is a delayed-release cysteamine - a compound first identified in 2002 as a potential therapy in the Stanford laboratory of Lawrence Steinman, MD. As I wrote in my release at that time (courtesy of the way-back machine):
By enhancing the brain's natural protective response to the disease, researchers were able to alleviate the uncontrollable tremors and prolong the lives of mice with a neurological disorder that mimics Huntington's. Their finding suggests that a similar treatment strategy may be effective in humans.
Raptor (a company which Steinman advises and in which he holds stock options) enrolled 96 patients in an 18-month-long double blind trial pitting RP103 against a placebo, followed by an 18-month period in which all the participants would receive RP103. Eighty-nine patients completed the first 18-month period; those who received the drug appeared to show slower progression in their disease than those who received the placebo.
It will likely still be years before we know whether the potential treatment will clear the necessary hurdles and become clinically available. But as Steinman said to me in a e-mail last week, "It's very exciting to see this moving forward in humans."
Previously: Drug found effective in two mouse models of Huntington's disease, Amyloid, schmamyloid: Stanford MS expert finds dreaded proteins may not be all bad and Potential therapeutic target for Huntington's disease discovered by researchers in Taiwan, Stanford
