Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects predominately dopamine-producing (“dopaminergic”) neurons in the substantia nigra.

PD effects more than 5 million people worldwide and more than 1 million people in North America.

PD is caused by the death of dopaminergic neurons in the substatia nigra.

All genders and all races are affected. Studies confirm more men are likely to have PD than women. By the time motor symptoms appear, 60-80% of cells are already lost.

60,000 new cases of Parkinson’s Disease are identified each year.

PD usually starts affecting people over the age of 50, with the average age of the demographic being 60 years old.

The number of PD diagnoses increases with age regardless of gender.

Parkinson’s Disease is defined as a debilitating progressive neurological where diagnosis is partially defined by neurological exam and responsiveness to Levadopa.

There is a clear unmet clinical need for the development of molecular diagnostics that identify and stratify Parkinson’s Disease by stage to ensure the right therapeutic intervention dose is provided to the patient.

BPGbio has identified a novel panel of biomarkers and clinical features that provide diagnostic utility in identifying Parkinson’s Disease as well as stratifying it by stage.

BPGbio is working in collaboration with Parkinson’s Institute to discover new biomarkers for this debilitating disease.

Project Title: Proteomics, Metabolomics, Lipidomics and Genetic Analysis for Biomarker DISCOVERY in Parkinson’s Disease (DISCOVERY-PD)

Primary Objective: To identify biologic markers of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) for use in diagnostic testing.

Secondary Objectives: To identify and investigate possible correlations between biologic markers and clinical features of PD.

Study Design: Single center observational study to assess potential biological markers in Parkinson’s patients and healthy controls.

Patient Cohort: ~200 patients with diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease and age/gender matched healthy individuals as controls.

BPGbio has discovered a panel of novel biomarkers for identification and stratification of Parkinson’s Disease which have been validated in a CLIA laboratory setting.

Additional Parkinson’s disease biofluid cohorts are being explored to address additional clinical unmet needs relative to these panels.

BPGbio is currently exploring commercial opportunities globally for this technology. The test is currently not commercially available in the United States.