14 PPMIonline . org
How Industry Is Using PPMI to Speed Drug Development
“ In the 11 years since PPMI launched , Parkinson ’ s research and drug development has really undergone significant changes : new therapies into clinical testing ; more investment and activity in developing therapeutics ; and , most importantly , new therapeutics into patient hands . PPMI has played a significant role in many of these areas ,” said MJFF Deputy CEO and Head of Research Sohini Chowdhury .
Early on , the Foundation recognized a major gap in our understanding of Parkinson ’ s that stands as a roadblock to developing therapies to slow , stop or prevent the disease : a biomarker , or objective measure of disease ( see page 12 ). Parkinson ’ s is a complex disease , so the search for a biomarker requires a largescale , collaborative effort .
That ’ s why PPMI , which represents the largest and deepest study of the human experience of Parkinson ’ s ever undertaken , was designed with an “ open source ” collaborative , datasharing model . It was built on a forwardthinking framework for harnessing technology to share new knowledge in real time with the scientific community , and in turn , channel those insights directly into drug development . Today , PPMI boasts 40 public , private and nonprofit partners — a global collaboration unprecedented in Parkinson ’ s research .
“ What was really unusual and speaks to the trust that companies have in The Michael J . Fox Foundation was that they were able to bring all of these companies together at the same table to try to understand this ,” says Dr . Carole Ho , Chief Medical Officer and Head of Development at California biotech Denali Therapeutics , which joined PPMI to help advance the discovery of PD biomarkers and apply those findings to their portfolio of potential therapies . Through PPMI , dozens of competitor firms in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry are collaborating toward a common goal .
“ We are in a super high-risk business , investing a lot of money . And we need good data sets , like those coming out of PPMI , to help us progress and make the right decisions on these