Recruitment began today for a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase IIa clinical trial to test the safety and tolerability of repurposing nilotinib in Parkinson's disease. Nilotinib is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved treatment for cancer of the white blood cells. Enrollment will open on an ongoing basis at a maximum of 25 clinical sites across the United States. For a full list of currently recruiting centers and eligibility criteria, visit Fox Trial Finder. Patients interested in participating should register on Fox Trial Finder to be notified if they are a possible match for this study (or for others currently in need of research volunteers).
Drug repurposing, or repositioning, is taking a medication that is often FDA-approved for one condition and using it to treat another. Repurposing can be a promising and efficient way to seed the drug development pipeline, however, repurposed drugs must undergo additional clinical testing to evaluate their safety, tolerability and efficacy specifically for Parkinson's. Read more about repurposed therapies in our Foundation's guide.