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.
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.
Oct 30, 2026
Newronika's AlphaDBS system implanted in first Parkinson's study patient
Written by Patricia Inácio, PhD | Oct. 7, 2026
The first Parkinson’s disease patient has been implanted with Newronika‘s adaptive AlphaDBS, an innovative deep brain stimulation (DBS) system, as part of a pivotal clinical trial underway in Italy.
The ADVENT study (NCT06891781) will compare the adaptive AlphaDBS system with conventional DBS in people with Parkinson’s. The trial is expected to enroll 104 adults with idiopathic (unknown cause) Parkinson’s who have been referred for DBS on both sides of the subthalamic nucleus, a brain region involved in movement.
Enrollment is underway in Italy and is expected to begin soon in the U.S., with additional European centers also planned. The trial is intended to generate evidence to support a future application for U.S. approval.
“This study is designed to generate rigorous evidence by comparing adaptive and conventional stimulation in the same participants. We are grateful to the participant[s], the clinical team, and all the investigators contributing to this international study,” Lorenzo Rossi, co-founder and CEO of Newronika, said in a press release.
AlphaDBS designed to continuously sense and analyze brain signals
Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological disorder marked by motor symptoms including tremor, muscle stiffness, and bradykinesia, or slowed movement.
DBS is an established surgical treatment for some people whose symptoms are not adequately controlled with medication. It involves implanting electrodes in specific brain regions and connecting them to a pulse-generating device that delivers electrical stimulation to alter abnormal brain activity.
Conventional DBS delivers stimulation using settings programmed by a clinician, which generally remain constant until manually changed. Adaptive DBS, by contrast, monitors brain activity and automatically adjusts stimulation within clinician-set limits as a person’s needs change.
AlphaDBS is designed to continuously sense and analyze brain signals and adjust electrical stimulation in response, creating a closed-loop system.
The technology has been in clinical development for several years. In 2021, the first person with Parkinson’s was implanted with AlphaDBS in a clinical study (NCT04681534) designed to assess its safety, tolerability, and potential effectiveness. The study compared adaptive stimulation with conventional stimulation during short hospital and at-home treatment periods.
Oct 29, 2026
Study highlights role of cerebellum in Parkinson's learning, memory problems
Written by Marisa Horak, MS | Oct. 8, 2026
- Chemical changes in the cerebellum, particularly involving the neurotransmitter glutamate, are linked to cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease.
- Patients with cognitive issues showed reduced glutamate signaling markers, especially in the right side of the cerebellum.
- Researchers emphasize the need for larger studies to validate findings and track how these brain changes progress.
Chemical changes in the brain region known as the cerebellum may play a key role in the cognitive issues experienced by people with Parkinson’s disease, a study found. The researchers used specialized MRI scans to track glutamate, a brain signaling molecule, and pinpoint the connection.
The team stressed, however, that the study was limited to a small number of patients, and emphasized the need for further tests to validate their findings. Still, they said, their findings “highlight the potential role of [the] cerebellum in [Parkinson’s]-related cognitive dysfunction.”
The study, “Cerebellar Glutamate Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer Alterations Correlated With Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease,” was published in NMR In Biomedicine.
Cognitive issues, such as difficulty with learning and memory, are common nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson’s. But the specific changes in the brain that lead to cognitive problems in Parkinson’s are not well defined.
Oct 28, 2026
Amprion, Prema Cognition collaboration aims to identify, evaluate those at risk
Written by Andrea Lobo | Oct. 9, 2026
- Amprion and Prema Cognition are partnering to identify and evaluate people at risk of developing Parkinson's and related disorders.
- The approach pairs digital cognitive testing and molecular biomarker analysis.
- The companies also plan to explore its application in clinical research and drug development.
Amprion and Prema Cognition have entered into a collaboration to explore an approach for identifying and evaluating people at risk for Parkinson’s disease and related disorders that combines digital cognitive testing with molecular biomarker analysis.
The partnership will pair Premas’ cognitive assessment technology, called Premaz, with Amprion’s biomarker testing, with Premaz helping to identify people who may need further evaluation for biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases.
The collaboration is part of Amprion’s broader Neuro-Convergence Initiative, which aims to combine biological, cognitive, and digital measures to better understand how neurodegenerative diseases develop and progress.
“Earlier detection of neurodegenerative disease requires more than a single measurement,” Russ Lebovitz, MD, PhD, Amprion’s CEO, said in a company press release. “The Premaz digital cognitive assessment complements our molecular diagnostics by helping identify individuals who may benefit from additional testing.”
Amprion’s test detects misfolded proteins
Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, collectively known as synucleinopathies, are characterized by the buildup of clumps of misfolded proteins, particularly alpha-synuclein, in the brain. This leads to the formation of structures known as Lewy bodies. Along with Parkinson’s motor symptoms such as tremor, stiffness, and slowed movement, some patients may also develop cognitive problems.
Because symptoms can vary widely between people and overlap with those of other neurological disorders, combining information about a person’s symptoms and cognitive function with biological evidence of disease may provide a more complete picture of what is happening in the brain.
Amprion’s SAAmplify-alphaSYN, previously known as SYNTap, is a qualitative test that detects misfolded alpha-synuclein in cerebrospinal fluid, the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. The test uses a seed amplification assay, a laboratory method that mimics how misfolded alpha-synuclein triggers further protein aggregation.
Detecting these abnormal aggregates can provide evidence of synuclein pathology and aid physicians in evaluating disorders such as Parkinson’s and dementia with Lewy bodies.
The test is commercially available in the U.S. and has received a breakthrough device designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to aid in evaluating people for Parkinson’s.
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