The week passed fairly uneventfully this time, with the baffling politics and shocking events of the new decade struggling to get started. Instead, research from Scottish universities indicated a link between a type of common gut bacteria and Parkinson’s; a heart disease-related treatment from AstraZeneca has folded, costing them potentially $100 million; and the NHS has struck a “landmark” deal with Novartis to trial a new statin type for five years.

NEW RESEARCH ON PARKINSON’S AND GUT BACTERIA LINKS – Research from the Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee has found that the common bacteria bacillus subtilis which boosts digestive health can slow or reverse the build-up of the alpha-synuclein protein, commonly linked with Parkinson’s. In the study, researchers altered roundworms to produce the human form of alpha-synuclein and fed probiotics to see what affected the toxic build-up. Bacillus subtilis not only prevented but also cleared some of the protein build-up, improving movement symptoms and preventing toxic formations by producing new chemicals to alter how the cell enzymes worked. The test will now be confirmed in mouse models. 

ASTRAZENECA LOSES $100 MILLION IN FAILED HEART DRUG TRIALS – AstraZeneca is set to lose $100 million after its fish oil tablet Epanova was found not to treat mixed dyslipidaemia, a condition linked to heart disease which causes raised levels of cholesterol in the blood, and was discontinued. 

In other news: 

R&D
15-year Roche-Illumina genomics alliance struck to focus on cancer

Clinical Trials
NHS strikes landmark five-year statin trial deal with Novartis
BMS’ first-line NSCLC combo granted FDA fast review

Manufacturing
Biogen buys experimental Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s treatment from Pfizer
Eli Lilly partners with Strateos on California robotic laboratory

That’s all for now. See you next week!

Joshua Neil, Editor
Proventa International