Largest Parkinson’s disease treatment trial to begin across the UK

Led by researchers at UCL and Newcastle University, a £26 million project is accelerating the development of a treatment designed to slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease. The study, named EJS ACT-PD, aims to recruit 1,600 patients to test three potential Parkinson’s therapies in a basket trial approach (a type of trial that aims to target a wide range of conditions). Its goal is to represent the broader Parkinson’s population in the UK, aiming to recruit participants from diverse backgrounds, aged over 30, with a range of treatment histories..

The trial protocol allows patients who do not benefit from one drug to switch to another, with follow-up visits — either in person or remotely — every six months for up to three years. Two of the three drugs that will be tested in the trial are already well-established drugs and will be assesed to see if they can be repurposed as Parkinson’s treatments — these are telmisartan for blood pressure therapy and terazosin, which is used to treat an enlarged prostate. A third drug for liver disease treatment, ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), is scheduled to enter testing next year, with additional candidates potentially joining the trial, according to lead investigators at University College London and the University of Newcastle. The investigators suggest that testing multiple drugs simultaneously could greatly improve trial efficiency, potentially reducing the time required to evaluate a drug candidate by as much as three years.

We hope this trial will serve as a blueprint for future trials in Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative conditions

Professor Thomas Foltynie

Parkinson’s disease is one of the world’s fastest-growing neurological conditions, with 166,000 people affected in the UK alone. Professor Thomas Foltynie from UCL, who is the co-chief investigator for the study alongside Newcastle University’s Professor Camille Carroll, said: “We are prioritising drugs that already show promise as potential treatments, based on an extensive review of prior evidence, as we seek to identify a drug that does more than just provide symptom relief for Parkinson’s.

“We hope this trial will serve as a blueprint for future trials in Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative conditions,” he added.

Professor Carroll stated: “Our innovative trial design will enable us to accelerate the hunt for an effective treatment in a giant step forward for Parkinson’s research, as we will be trialling multiple drugs simultaneously, adapting as we go along based on what we’re learning.”

Participants are already being recruited at the London (UCLH) and Newcastle (Clinical Ageing Research Unit) sites, with the other trial sites at more than 40 hospitals across the UK ready to get underway between now and next April

The current standard clinical trials process is extremely resource-consuming, and stop-start in nature, taking up to 10 years for a single potential treatment to complete assessment. Compared to running individual trials for each treatment, the structure of the EJS ACT-PD trial can accelerate the assessment process by close to 25% (or up to three years).

Participants are already being recruited at the London (UCLH) and Newcastle (Clinical Ageing Research Unit) sites, with the other trial sites at more than 40 hospitals across the UK ready to get underway between now and April 2026. The first patient to be recruited, Graham Edwins, said: “Having Parkinson’s, especially young onset, your choices are denial, acceptance, or to fight back, which is what I feel I am doing by taking part. Even if I don’t directly benefit, if I can help progress a potential treatment.”