Bukwang and subsidiary Contera have become the latest to fail to progress a novel Parkinson's therapy to late-stage trials after a Phase II miss, although several other Korean firms remain in the race for the challenging indication, albeit mainly in Phase I-II.

Just over six months after getting a complete response letter for its prodrug carbidopa and levodopa combination product, the US major has acquired Mitokinin and its selective PINK1 activator which could potentially be a disease-modifying treatment for Parkinson’s disease.

The US firm’s lead program has flunked a mid-stage trial in early Parkinson’s disease and, despite a promising efficacy signal in a younger patient cohort, its future remains uncertain.

The Swedish firm’s Parkinson's disease drug has failed to hit its primary endpoint in a Phase IIb study but Irlab believes that positive results on secondary goals merit further development of mesdopetam.