DAPA-PD

The NLRP3 inflammasome is a complex of proteins which plays a critical role in mediating the inflammatory response of immune cells to harmful triggers and cell damage. It can become excessively activated by abnormal aggregation of alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease and this can lead to chronic inflammation, which may contribute to nerve cell loss in the brain. Dapansutrile is a new drug, developed by Olatec Therapeutics, which prevents NLRP3 inflammasome activation. The DAPA-PD trial will test whether dapansutrile might be a useful treatment for Parkinson’s disease.

The trial will recruit 36 people who have early-stage Parkinson’s disease and evidence of inflammation in the blood. They will be randomly allocated to receive either dapansutrile tablets or placebo tablets for six months, in addition to their standard Parkinson’s treatment. The trial design will be double-blind, i.e. neither the participants nor the study team will know the treatment allocation. Following the initial six months, all participants will be offered the opportunity to take dapansutrile for an additional six months ('open-label' phase). Participants will undergo various assessments to evaluate whether the drug is safe and well-tolerated in Parkinson’s, and to measure its impact on inflammation using blood tests, lumbar puncture tests and PET brain imaging. We will also assess changes in clinical symptoms over the course of the trial.