Grifols garners $21M grant from Michael J. Fox Foundation to hunt for early Parkinson's disease biomarkers

Spanish pharma Grifols is leveraging its massive collection of plasma samples to look for early biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease (PD) thanks to a $21 million grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF).

The project, called Chronos-PD, will be spearheaded by Grifols’ subsidiary Alkahest, the company said in a Jan. 14 release.

The MJFF’s funds will power a pilot study analyzing plasma proteins taken from patients over a period of 10 years, enabling scientists to identify how those proteins change over time. This could lead to early-detection methods or new therapies, according to the release.

“Going back in time to search for the earliest signs of PD, even before symptoms appear, has potential to revolutionize PD management,” Grifols’ chief scientific innovation officer Jörg Schüttrumpf, M.D., said in the release. “The hope is to accelerate and ultimately develop new diagnostics and disease-modifying therapeutics that could mitigate or even prevent the condition from manifesting itself.”

Alkahest will head up the project due to its expertise in using AI, multiomics and real-world data in drug discovery, according to the release.

The approach Grifols is using in Chronos-PD could also be applied to other diseases, the company said. The firm has amassed more than 100 million plasma samples from patients with various diseases over the last 15 years, according to the release.

There is no test for diagnosing PD; rather, physicians rely on a physical and neurological exam along with a patient’s medical history and symptoms. It can take some patients several years to be diagnosed after first experiencing motor symptoms.

The MJFF was founded in 2000 by the actor Michael J. Fox, who was diagnosed with PD in 1991. The foundation has given more than $2 billion toward PD research, according to its website.