Eurostar Project
Contera Pharma, an affiliate of Bukwang Pharmaceutical, announced that it was chosen for the Eurostar Project in cooperation with Demark’s Solural Pharma, Germany’s Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, and Germany’s Erweka GmbH. The project is to support the development of a medicine to treat morning akinesia, the parakinesia of patients with Parkinson's disease.
Parkinson's disease affects one in 100 people over the age of 60. The disease occurs when the dopamine-generating nerve cells die in the substantia nigra, a region of the midbrain, which lead to a lack of dopamine in neuroceptor. In order to make up the shortage of dopamine, patients with Parkinson's disease are currently using Levodopa to treat Parkinson's symptoms. The treatment is effective at managing the early motor symptoms of the disease, but it eventually becomes ineffective after long-term use.
Morning akinesia usually occurs after the first use of Levodopa, before the treatment becomes effective. It also occurs in up to 50 percent of patients receiving levodopa after several years. Since morning akinesia impairs daily activities such as getting up in the morning, putting on clothes, washing a face and preparing breakfast, it can significantly affect quality of life of patients suffering from Parkinson's disease.
Contera Pharma CEO John Bondo Hansen said, “It is an honor to carry out this project through cooperation with partner companies in Denmark and Germany. The project is one of our development portfolio, which focuses on developing new treatments for various degenerative movement disorders. Our goal is to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.”
Solural Pharma CEO Peter G. Nielsen said, “Working together with Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald Professor Sandra Klein, the leading expert in this sector, the Eurostar Project will provide opportunities to develop new innovative drugs that meet the needs of patients, by using new, improved technologies of Erweka GmbH.