Australian and international clinical trials have shown promising results for new Parkinson’s disease treatments, with one drug reducing brain inflammation and another improving daily mobility for patients.
Australian Trial Targets Inflammation in Early Parkinson’s
A trial led by Professor Simon Lewis at Macquarie University’s Brain Institute found that an experimental drug, SNT-4728, reduced inflammation in 20 of 30 patients with isolated rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (iRBD), a condition linked to Parkinson’s. Participants, including John Clowes, described vivid dreams and physical symptoms that disrupted their sleep, with some reporting improvements in mobility and quality of life.
We saw a reduction in [brain] inflammation in 20 out of the 30 patients who took the drug,
Lewis said. Professor Carolyn Sue, a Parkinson’s expert at Neuroscience Research Australia, called the findings “encouraging,” noting that reducing inflammation could slow disease progression. The trial, published in SMH, involved 41 participants with iRBD, a precursor to Parkinson’s.
Participants in the Australian trial also showed at least one other early sign of Parkinson’s, such as a diminished sense of smell. The study, conducted at Macquarie University, aimed to evaluate whether SNT-4728 could target inflammation in the brain, which is associated with the loss of dopamine-producing cells. Lewis noted that iRBD patients had increased brain inflammation compared with the general population, and that this inflammation predicted how many dopamine-producing cells a person would lose in the next three years. By the time someone is diagnosed with Parkinson’s, they’ve lost about half of those dopamine-producing cells,
he said.
Solengepras Shown to Extend ‘On’ Time for Parkinson’s Patients
It is especially encouraging that in addition to the improvements in the good 'on' time, the patients themselves felt overall benefits in their usual motor function,
said Ron Postuma, Chair of the MDS International Congress Scientific Program Committee. The ARISE trial, involving 341 participants across multiple countries, showed no serious adverse events, with a 3.5% discontinuation rate due to side effects, according to BioSpace.
The ARISE trial, which was presented at the 2026 International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders in Seoul, Korea, tested solengepras as an adjunct treatment for 341 patients with Parkinson’s who experienced motor fluctuations with standard-of-care levodopa and other medications. At baseline, patients on average experienced 5.65 hours of “off” time daily. The figure decreased by 1.56 hours for those on the 150-mg dose, compared to a 0.95-hour reduction in the placebo group. Both the solengepras and placebo groups improved over the trial, but the higher-dose group experienced about 37 minutes less “off” time each day than the placebo group.
Dr Mubasher Qamar, Senior Movement Disorder and Neurology Clinical and Research Fellow at King’s College Hospital, highlighted the importance of the trial: Parkinson’s Disease has a number of wide-ranging effects on people’s quality of life, including an impact on movement, causing tremor, slowness and stiffness.
Dundee Trial Explores Precision Medicine for LRRK2-Driven Parkinson’s
Researchers at the University of Dundee are testing NEULARK, a precision medicine approach targeting LRRK2-driven Parkinson’s. Dr. Esther Sammler, leading the trial, emphasized that Parkinson’s varies by individual biology, with some patients showing overactive LRRK2 pathways. That is what personalised medicine is,
she said, citing Dundee Culture.
Professor Dario Alessi from Dundee University, explained that the NEULARK trial focuses on people with evidence of overactivity in LRRK2, a protein kinase linked to Parkinson’s. The trial represents a shift from traditional one-size-fits-all approaches to treatments tailored to individual genetic profiles.
Next Steps and Regulatory Hopes
Cerevance plans to discuss solengepras’s regulatory path with the FDA, with potential UK approval following. The hope is that we can slow the progression of the disease down or even maybe halt the progression,
said Professor Dario Alessi, per Dundee Culture. Meanwhile, the Australian trial’s results, published in SMH, await larger studies to confirm long-term efficacy.
Results from the ARISE Phase 3 study are expected later this year, with the drug slated for submission to the FDA. The trial, which involved 341 participants across the US, Europe, the UK, and Australia, is part of a broader effort to develop therapies that address the underlying causes of Parkinson’s rather than just its symptoms. Researchers at King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which led the UK recruitment for the ARISE trial, highlighted the study’s significance in advancing Parkinson’s care.
Dr. Esther Sammler of the University of Dundee noted that the NEULARK trial could provide insights into personalized treatment strategies. Even slowing the disease down would be huge because it would buy patients a lot more time to continue doing the things they enjoy doing,
she said. The trial’s focus on LRRK2-driven Parkinson’s aligns with growing efforts to identify biomarkers and develop targeted therapies for specific subtypes of the disease.
Other biotechs, including Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly’s Ventyx Therapeutics, and Insilico Medicine, are also exploring treatments for Parkinson’s. However, solengepras remains one of the most advanced candidates, with regulatory discussions ongoing.
As the Parkinson’s research community awaits the outcomes of these trials, patients and advocates remain hopeful. I look forward to the outcome of the trial, with the hope that a new treatment for Parkinson’s may be on the horizon,
said a researcher at King’s College Hospital. With multiple approaches under investigation, the future of Parkinson’s treatment appears increasingly promising.