Scientists are launching a groundbreaking collaboration to examine whether existing drugs can be repurposed to treat symptoms of both Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, potentially accelerating treatment development by up to 10 years. The partnership between Cure Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Research UK aims to identify novel treatments at pace by leveraging shared biological pathways between the two neurodegenerative conditions.
The initiative comes after the NHS spending watchdog rejected the use of new Alzheimer's drugs lecanemab and donanemab for widespread use in the health service. While these drugs were approved for use in the UK last year by the medicines regulator, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) determined they could not be used in the NHS because the benefits are "too small" to justify the cost.
Building on Proven Success
The collaboration extends Cure Parkinson's International Linked Clinical Trials (iLCT) programme, which has demonstrated remarkable success over the past decade. According to Dr. Sheona Scales, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, the iLCT project has been "hugely successful" with Parkinson's patients, with "around 30% of disease modifying therapies that are in clinical trials for Parkinson's disease came through this process."
"What we wanted to do is to build on their knowledge and experience and expertise in order to be able to bring a process similar to that to Alzheimer's disease," Dr. Scales explained.
Shared Biological Targets
The partnership capitalizes on the recognition that both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's are neurodegenerative diseases with overlapping biological processes. Dr. Scales identified several "common biological processes" that could serve as targets for repurposed drugs, including inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and "protein misfolding."
"Getting multiple drugs that are targeting the disease is really important to us," she said. "Testing different types of drugs and getting as many shots on target is important."
Accelerated Development Timeline
Drug repurposing offers significant advantages over developing entirely new treatments. "Repurposed drugs have already been demonstrated to be safe for use in humans," Dr. Scales noted. "What essentially bringing repurposed drugs does, is help to accelerate the drug development pipeline – it could save between five and 10 years within that process, compared to taking a new drug through clinical trials for the very first time."
Helen Matthews, chief executive of Cure Parkinson's, explained that the collaboration emerged from recognizing commonalities between drugs being investigated for both conditions. "There were so many drugs that were also being looked at in the dementia field and there were commonalities there in terms of the drugs looking to reduce inflammation, or whatever it might be, there were specific pathways that those drugs were working on that could be beneficial for both disease areas."
Current Research Focus
Weight loss medications are already under investigation for their potential in treating both diseases. Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, is being examined in clinical trials to determine its effectiveness for patients with Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's. Trial results for the Alzheimer's study are expected to be published later this year.
Operational Efficiency
The partnership aims to eliminate duplication of effort in drug evaluation. "If you're looking at the same drugs, we'll only do that digging once, you know, only do that compilation of the dossiers once, so that you can actually take the learning for both diseases and then actually look and see which might be beneficial," Matthews explained.
The collaboration is structured around joint sessions where international expert panels will review drugs identified as having potential for repurposing for both dementia and Parkinson's. In June 2025, the iLCT committee meeting will host its first joint session as part of this expanded initiative.
Future Implications
The partnership represents part of Alzheimer's Research UK's Clinical Accelerator programme, which aims to improve the UK's ability to run clinical trials for dementia by providing funding for innovative trials and researchers. Matthews suggested the sharing of knowledge could extend to other disease areas, such as multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Lucy Devendra, head of research at Alzheimer's Society, endorsed the approach: "Repurposing medicines which are already known to be safe can help us find new treatments for the diseases that cause dementia much quicker. Although it is still early days, it's encouraging to see a renewed focus on this type of research and development."
The collaboration hopes to serve as a template for future cross-condition partnerships, particularly for conditions influenced by similar biological processes like inflammation. This cross-disease approach represents a significant shift in neurodegenerative disease research, potentially offering patients faster access to effective treatments while maximizing research efficiency and resources.
