Cambridge, MA USA & Rostock, Germany 13 May, 2019 – CENTOGENE today announced the initiation of a 24-month global study to investigate the genetic factors in Parkinson’s disease, one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders that affects approximately 1 per cent of individuals over the age of 60. The ‘Rostock International Parkinson’s Disease Study’ (ROPAD) is being conducted in cooperation with the University of Lübeck and is expected to be the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind concerning Parkinson’s disease.
The study aims to enroll approximately 10,000 participants worldwide, to provide a study cohort with a broad genetic background that mirrors the global population. The objective of the study is to gain a comprehensive understanding of how many and which genetic mutations in Parkinson’s disease (PD) associated genes are linked to the development of the disease. CENTOGENE will utilize the CentoCard®, its proprietary, CE-marked dried blood spot collection kit to identify participants with a mutation in the LRRK2, GBA and other PD associated genes.
Patients displaying mutations in PD genes will have the option to undergo further clinical assessment in a supplementary study, ‘LRRK2 International Parkinson’s Disease Project (LIPAD)’, conducted at the University of Lübeck with the lead of Professor Christine Klein, where a detailed phenotyping of participants will be performed in order to describe the frequency of all important clinical PD signs and symptoms. Patients enrolled in ROPAD with a LRRK2 mutation may also be offered participation in future clinical studies with study partner Denali Therapeutics, which is developing investigational therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative and other human diseases.
“CENTOGENE is committed to bringing hope to patients and their families by shortening the diagnostic odyssey, and we are proud to be working on this important study that may have vast implications for the future diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson’s disease,” said Dr. Arndt Rolfs, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of CENTOGENE. “All too often clinical studies do not reflect the ethnic diversity of the world, and this study is unique in that we are working across all ethnicities worldwide and crosschecking the effect of environmental components and individual genetics. We are excited about the contribution that CENTOGENE and our partners are making in discovering deeper insights into Parkinson’s disease genetics.”
For more information, please watch the video interview with CENTOGENE CEO Prof. Arndt Rolfs, MD.