Posted May 8, 2008

Recruiting has begun for 2CARE, a large PHASE 3 trial testing Coenzyme Q-10 in Huntington's disease. At its conclusion we will hopefully learn a definitive answer whether high doses of this supplement can slow the progression of Huntington's.  The Huntington Study Group is recruiting for more than 600 participants for this trial that is slated to last as long as five years, but will be stopped earlier if benefit is shown during a shorter time.

On a less positive front, several recent trials of Coenzyme Q-10 for Parkinson's have not confirmed the benefit that an earlier trial had suggested . .

posted April 23, 2008

With his permission, I gratefully post an interview by my good friend Gene Veritas with Dr. C. Frank Bennett, Senior Vice President of Research at Isis Pharmaceutical.  If all goes as planned, Dr. Bennett predicts 2010 as the date for first phase human clinical trials for Huntington's.

It sounds possible -- I can hope he's right. 

posted Feb 12, 2008

NBC correspondent Charles Sabine was an important highlight from the February 2008 CHDI conference , setting the tone for this meeting with his powerful opening presentation.  Mr. Sabine-- who is known for his decades of news coverage in countries torn apart by war and disaster -- came out of the Huntington's closet. He spoke of his family's experience with the disease, and later about his own gene positive test.  In his presentation he first offered heartfelt gratitude to all those who work for Huntington's; but he had other messages for CHDI and the assembled crowd:  His was an eloquent plea to give hope and dignity to all families who sufffer from Huntington's. His video presentation from the HSDA website is linked below.

Updated May 8, 2008

The European Huntington Disease Network (EHDN) has begun recruiting for a PHASE 3 study of ACR-16 in Europe that will involve about 420 patients.  This clinical trial will test 2 different dosages of the drug and last for 6 months. We are more than a bit behind. Start dates for the U.S. counterpart, an earlier PHASE 2 trial that will last for 3 months have not been announced.

EHDN science writer Dr. Diana Raffelsbauer's interview with Dr. Arvid Carlsson, the nobel laureate who discovered the molecule is presented in EHDN's inaugural newsletter.