 |
 |
The latest word is that in about a week the Amgen project staff will present the detailed findings from phase II to an internal committee which will presumably make recommendations about the next steps for the NIL-A medication. The decision about whether and how to proceed is taken in a larger context of the company's opportunities and other priorities. There is no indication what the recommendation will be or when a decision will be taken. Regarding the question whether this study was long enough to account for the extremely strong placebo effect for PD (apparently the mechanism of the placebo is the release of dopamine in response to expectations), the 6 month trial was considered the minimum to neutralize the placebo effect and as much as a year is warranted. Amgen still owns GDNF which is a strong nerve growth factor but has not been successfully delivered to the human brain. Several independent investigators are testing different delivery systems. Stay tuned. Perry Cohen www.parkinsonscare.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn