The Parkinson's community competes with the other medical condition communities for the precious dollars that could lead to a cure. Other diseases claim a large group of people living with that condition. Consider diabetes with more than 15 million people in the United States living with it. That's more than 10 times the number of people with Parkinson's disease. So, a cure for diabetes would gather more customers than a cure for Parkinson's. The people in business suits, and even public health officials would tend to point to the larger group of people, and decide to invest in technologies that will benefit the larger group. More customers!
This week, the Michael J. Fox Parkinson's Research Foundation announced they would grant $4.6 million in total funding to 10 industry research teams that are searching for more effective Parkinson's treatments. The Parkinson's community is fortunate to have such an effective fund raising organization.
"No matter how much capital a pharmaceutical or biotech company may have, every investment of that capital is a bet—and, by definition, may not pay off," said Deborah W. Brooks, president and CEO of The Michael J. Fox Foundation. "Our goal with the Therapeutics Development Initiative is to add our resources to companies' own, making Parkinson's a more attractive bet and helping to push PD research further out the drug development pipeline toward the clinic and patients."
