Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that is becoming more common as the population ages. PD is caused by nerve cells dying. PD causes movement-related (motor) symptoms (such as shaking and slowness) as well as non-motor symptoms (NMS), such as sleep disturbance and dementia. Although current therapies help with the symptoms of the disease, there are no treatments shown to slow progression of the disease.

This study is designed to determine whether simvastatin merits further investigation in a large definitive phase III study as a neuroprotective therapy in PD. If ultimately successful, this will provide a well-tolerated and cost effective therapy that could be rapidly included in clinical treatment plans for the circa 7 million people living with Parkinson’s worldwide, and potentially be the only therapy shown to slow disease progression.