Parkinson’s partnership sets sights on cell therapy

Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda (Osaka, Japan) and Danish biotechnology company NsGene (Ballerup, Denmark) have announced a partnership to develop encapsulated cell therapies for the potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The partnership will focus on the delivery of recombinant Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF) to affected brain regions via implanted, encapsulated cell therapy devices. GDNF has been identified as a neuroregenerative growth factor holding promise in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, through promotion of axon growth and protection of dopaminergic neurons when delivered directly to the diseased cells for an extended duration. However, problems with drug delivery to affected portions...