We are greatly saddened by news that WAVE Life Sciences has ended the PRECISION-HD1 and HD2 huntingtin-lowering drug trials, which have been running since 2017.
WAVE confirmed this week that it is stopping production of the WVE-120101 and WVE-120102 drugs. The decision comes after trial results showed no significant change in the huntingtin protein level in adults with HD who were treated with WVE-120101 as part of PRECISION-HD1 and WVE-120102 as part of PRECISION-HD2, when compared with participants who had the placebo.
WAVE Life Sciences continues its research into novel treatments, with the trial of its WVE-003 expected to begin later this year.
The outcomes of PRECISION-HD1 and HD2 are not what we were all hoping for, and it feels especially hard to bear following last week’s statement from Roche/Ionis that it is to stop dosing participants in the GENERATION HD-1 study.
While both announcements came within a week of one another, the decisions are not linked scientifically in any way. WAVE Life Sciences had a long-standing commitment to announce the results towards the end of March 2021.
For now, as we come to terms with this latest news, it is important to remember that every trial, study or piece of research - regardless of the outcome - is helping to move us one step closer to the much longed-for breakthrough we believe is coming. And we take some comfort from having heard directly from the scientists themselves who, in the wake of recent events, have reaffirmed their determination to carry on with the search for novel treatments.
As our friend Astri Arnesen, President of the European Huntington Association, said: “Despite these two big setbacks I have high hopes for the future. We learn from everything that has been done so far. Fortunately, there are also many other drugs with other methodologies and targets in the pipeline.”
Our priority, as always, is to ensure the HD community is well informed and supported. We are working up plans to ensure families have the opportunity to discuss and receive support further to these recent announcements. We will be in touch soon with more information.
In the meantime, should you have any questions or if you would like to speak to someone, our HD Specialists and Youth Advisors are here for you. Please visit https://hdscotland.org/services/specialists/ to find the HD Specialist for your area and https://hdscotland.org/shayp/shayp-meet-the-team/ to find your Youth Advisor.
You can read more about the Wave Life Sciences announcement here . Information on other treatment development for HD can be found here.