Following ABL Bio’s sizable Parkinson’s disease drug deal with Sanofi early this year, Korean bioventure Kainos Medicine is under the spotlight as its novel PD drug candidate enters Phase II in the US.

Novartis and Roche may be committed to the target, but AbbVie has decided that its efforts in Parkinson's will not include a Phase II trial of its Swedish partner's alpha synuclein drug.

Novel therapeutic strategies for Parkinson’s disease have brought a renewed sense of optimism to those researching this neurodegenerative disorder. Numerous treatment avenues are being explored, including small molecules, gene therapy, cell therapy and medical devices to stimulate nerves deep in the brain. Digital also gets a look-in, being useful for analyzing gait and other symptoms, and addressing both mental and physical issues.

Denmark's mid-sized biopharma, Lundbeck, has taken another potential Parkinson's disease therapeutic into early clinical studies, the third this year, and this time it's a monoclonal antibody, not a small molecule.