2 Fox Focus | The New Era
Message from the CEO :
The New Biological Era : Made Possible through Your Help
In the early days of our work to pursue better treatments and a cure for Parkinson ’ s disease , we were inspired and guided by the unrelenting optimism of our founder , Michael J . Fox , whose message was simply this : “ I ’ m coming for the big win . We ’ re going to get this done . We ’ re going to do this .”
As we approach the close of a momentous year , I ’ m proud to say that 2023 has been a watershed year for Parkinson ’ s research and for our neverending pursuit to end this disease .
The Parkinsons ’ s drug development pipeline , already robust , stands to become even more robust with the discovery of the new biomarker in April of this year , the so-called alpha-synuclein seeding amplification assay ( aSyn-SAA ). This tool now makes it possible — for the first time — to confirm Parkinson ’ s biologically , in living people , even before symptoms begin .
At The Michael J . Fox Foundation we have pursued biomarkers — ways to measure the underlying biology of the disease — for close to two decades . Early on , our team
recognized the urgent need for these tools and prioritized building a global collaboration to give it our all . Without biomarkers , the field ’ s pursuit of better treatments is hampered as clinical trials remain challenging to design and the value of interventions remains difficult to read out .
Finally getting a breakthrough like this is transformative : This is the game changer we were waiting for .
We are buoyed by this discovery and other advances that are rapidly making clear the next steps for defining and staging the disease , and what that means for patients and their families : a fuller understanding of the disease at every stage , smarter and faster drug trials and better treatments .
But we also know there are many questions following a breakthrough year like this , and much to unfold about the direct impact the advances have on the daily loves of people living with Parkinson ’ s — including what it means for diagnosing disease , determining one ’ s risk , managing symptoms and how the disease progresses .