CENTOGENE and Denali Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DNLI) today announced a strategic collaboration for the global identification and recruitment of LRRK2 mutation carrier Parkinson’s disease (“PD”) patients.
CENTOGENE will conduct a targeted global recruitment campaign focused on the early identification and characterization of LRRK2 PD patients and sequence the LRRK2 gene in these patients. Under the terms of the agreement, CENTOGENE will utilize CentoCard®, its proprietary, validated, dried blood spot collection kit, to identify PD patients with a mutation in the LRRK2 gene for recruitment into Denali’s clinical trials.
Mutations in the LRRK2 gene are one of the most commonly known genetic causes of Parkinson’s disease and a driver of lysosomal dysfunction, which contributes to the formation of Lewy body protein aggregates and neurodegeneration.
“Our exclusive collaboration underscores CENTOGENE’s strong capability to accelerate the early identification of patients with rare genetic diseases worldwide. As a leader in providing genetic insights in rare diseases, we believe we can contribute to Denali’s development of disease modifying medicines for patients with Parkinson’s disease. CENTOGENE will help Denali speed up the enrollment of patients in clinical studies for its LRRK2 program,” said Dr. Arndt Rolfs, CEO and founder of CENTOGENE.
“Denali is the first company to conduct clinical trials with LRRK2 inhibitors for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. This partnership with CENTOGENE is a central part of our global efforts to identify and recruit PD patients with a mutation in the LRRK2 gene into our planned clinical studies,” said Carole Ho, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Head of Development at Denali. “We are impressed with CENTOGENE’s approach and technology and believe that our joint efforts will accelerate the enrollment of PD patients and the completion of our clinical trials.”