Funding for research that must be conducted before a therapy for Parkinson’s can move into the clinical trial stage.

Cure Parkinson’s is a patient-led charity with the aim of raising money to fund and facilitate research into finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease.

Each year the Cure Parkinson’s International Linked Clinical Trials (iLCT) committee ranks and prioritises candidate therapies based on whether they are ready to be taken into clinical trial for Parkinson’s. Some agents that are not prioritised to move into trial are found to demonstrate great potential but require further research before being tested in people with Parkinson’s.

The iLCT Pipeline Research Acceleration Programme aims to accelerate the additional research required for therapeutic candidates evaluated by the iLCT committee that were not considered ready to move forward into clinical trials in people with Parkinson’s. The type of research covered by the programme may include preclinical, epidemiological, dose-finding, or target engagement research.

Every year the programme calls for expressions of interest and subsequent applications for funding based on specified project outlines developed by Cure Parkinson’s from the iLCT committee feedback, to test one or more therapies that has been evaluated by iLCT but requires further research before moving into clinical trial. The therapy to be tested for the 2026 call for applications is secukinumab in an alpha-synuclein model of Parkinson’s.

The overarching aim is to generate the additional data required to progress the candidate. Following the conclusion of the project, if positive, the candidate will be re-evaluated by Cure Parkinson’s iLCT committee with the aim of it becoming prioritised for clinical testing in people with Parkinson’s.

Academia and/or industry applicants from anywhere in the world are eligible, either solely or in partnership.

The maximum available per project is £300,000. Applicants must provide a detailed and realistic justification of project costs. Projects can last for up to 18 months.