Research Update from Palm Springs

In 2016, CHDI’s annual Huntington’s Disease Therapeutics Conference (HDTC) in Palm Springs, California brought something new and an indication of where HD research is now heading: a session packed with updates from clinical trials.

Speakers at the three-day conference, which includes researchers and clinicians from universities and pharmaceutical/biotech companies, recapped some of the year’s big findings, such as the study that identified genes in humans that modify HD—that is to say, genes that delay the start of symptoms.

Other talks covered efforts to visualize the 3-D structure of huntingtin, the HD protein; research on the role of the normal, non-mutant huntingtin protein; identifying the brain circuitry involved in emotional problems in HD, and finding new and better ways to measure symptoms.

And there are now enough clinical trials of experimental HD drugs to justify a “Clinical Trial Update Blitz”. This session included four short presentations with updates on the current status of trials such as Pfizer’s PDE-10 inhibitor study and the Roche/Ionis (formerly Isis) study of the antisense oligonucleotide (see Q&A with Sarah Tabrizi for more details).

For more coverage of the HDTC see the Postcard from Palm Springs and the Clinical Trial

Update Blitz on the CHDI website or at HD Buzz.

This story was originally published in the Spring 2016 issue of Enroll!