Use of newly named drug leads to stable motor symptoms in Parkinson’s

Nov 3, 2026

Small study shows benefits at 1 year with oral therapy once called GT-02287

Written by Andrea Lobo | Oct. 6, 2026

• The oral Parkinson's therapy candidate rexaceract, formerly GT-02287, was shown to stabilize motor symptoms in patients in an early trial.
• Treatment with rexacert led to no meaningful disease progression among the participants after one year.
• Developer Gain Therapeutics is now planning to launch a new mid-stage clinical trial in early 2027.

Gain Therapeutics’ oral therapy candidate rexaceract, formerly called GT-02287, stabilized motor symptoms in a small group of people with Parkinson’s disease who were treated for one year.

That’s according to new data from an open-label extension of an early clinical trial, which showed no meaningful progression of Parkinson’s motor symptoms for any of the evaluable participants taking rexaceract. The study involved people with and without genetic factors that may increase the risk of Parkinson’s.

The findings, “Long-Term Open-Label Data on the GCase Modulator GT-02287 (Rexaceract) in People with Parkinson’s Disease,” were presented by Joanne Taylor, PhD, Gain’s chief scientific officer, at the International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders, now being held in Seoul, South Korea. Gain stated in a company press release that these data, stemming from a Phase 1b trial, offer preliminary clinical evidence supporting the drug’s potential as a disease-modifying treatment for Parkinson’s.

“We believe rexaceract has the potential to shift the treatment paradigm beyond symptom management by addressing the underlying biology of Parkinson’s disease, and we expect rexaceract to be the backbone of the next generation of treatment for Parkinson’s,” said Gene Mack, Gain’s president and CEO.

The company said it now plans to submit a new Phase 2 trial protocol to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks, incorporating information from this study. That new mid-stage trial is expected to start the trial at the beginning of 2027, per the developer.

A progressive disease, Parkinson’s is marked by the buildup of toxic clumps of alpha-synuclein protein, which is thought to contribute to the loss of nerve cells that produce dopamine, a signaling molecule involved in motor function. Genetic factors, such as mutations in the GBA1 gene, may increase a person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s.

The GBA1 gene provides instructions to produce glucocerebrosidase, known as GCase, an enzyme that breaks down and recycles certain fatty molecules, such as glucosylsphingosine (GluSph), inside lysosomes, the cell’s recycling centers. GBA1 mutations reduce GCase activity, which can contribute to lysosomal dysfunction and to alpha-synuclein accumulation.

Blue light therapy glasses show promise for Parkinson’s sleep

Nov 2, 2026

Study participants report sleep quality, daytime alertness improvements

Written by Andrea Lobo | Oct. 6, 2026

• Patients with Parkinson’s disease frequently experience debilitating sleep disturbances and excessive daytime sleepiness.
• Wearing blue light therapy glasses improved sleep quality and boosted daytime alertness, a study shows.
• Larger clinical trials are needed to confirm the long-term effectiveness of the therapy for managing Parkinson's sleep issues.

Blue light therapy delivered through Chrono Eyewear’s Propeaq glasses may help people with Parkinson’s disease sleep better and feel less sleepy during the day, a small study shows.

After two weeks, those using blue light glasses reported greater improvements in sleep quality and daytime alertness, as well as a reduction in depressive symptoms, compared with participants who wore red light glasses.

“Blue light therapy, delivered through dedicated light therapy glasses, may be an accessible and user-friendly intervention for people with Parkinson’s,” Daniel van Wamelen, PhD, associate professor at King’s College London, who participated in the research, said in a press release. “The combined effect of improved sleep quality and reduction in daytime sleepiness, as well as possible improvement of symptoms such as depression, make this a particularly exciting intervention.”

The results “Blue light therapy delivered through light glasses improves sleep quality and daytime sleepiness in Parkinson’s disease: A randomized trial,” were published in the Journal of Parkinson’s Disease.

Previous study reported sleep quality improvements

Sleep disturbances are common in people with Parkinson’s and can occur at any stage of the disease. These may include difficulty falling or staying asleep, frequent nighttime awakenings, excessive daytime sleepiness, and changes in normal sleep patterns.

Poor sleep can contribute to daytime fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and reduced quality of life. Because sleep disturbances can have several causes, identifying and treating them is an important part of managing Parkinson’s beyond its movement-related symptoms.

A previous study conducted in 2019 at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands evaluated the effects of blue light therapy with Propeaq glasses, which deliver blue light through a series of LED lights built into the frame.

Among 31 individuals with Parkinson’s who used the glasses for at least one week, usually twice daily for 30 to 60 minutes each time, 74% reported improvements in sleep quality and motor function, and reductions in daytime sleepiness and depressive symptoms.