Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 22, 2026

Ole Isacson: Development of New Therapies for Parkinson's Disease
Published on: April 29, 2007
Current and emerging therapeutic advancements for Niemann-Pick disease type C: where are we now and what does the
1Department of Pediatric Neurology and Center of Rare Diseases, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany.
Introduction:
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C (NPD Type C) is a rare lysosomal disease characterized by progressive neurovisceral manifestations due to abnormal lipid storage resulting from biallelic mutations in the NPC1 or NPC2 gene. Until recently, treatment was mainly symptomatic.
Areas Covered:
This review summarizes the results of newer clinical trials evaluating efficacy and safety of new therapeutics, e.g. miglustat, cyclodextrins, arimoclomol, and N-Acetyl-L Leucine (NALL) for the treatment of NPD Type C. The PubMed database and the clinicaltrials.gov website were used for literature search and newest results posted.
Expert Opinion:
Arimoclomol and NALL showed significant improvements of neurological symptoms and reasonable safety profiles in phase II/III trials. The recent approval of arimoclomol in combination with miglustat and NALL for patients with NPD type C has the potential to modify the standard of care and will hopefully improve the prognosis. However, the collection of real-world data is warranted to explore the real clinical value of these new medicaments. Cyclodextrins are also promising therapeutics that principally allow to correct basic pathophysiological mechanisms in NPD type C, but further research is needed.
Related Concept Videos
Pharmacogenomics: Identification of New Drug Targets
Microorganisms in Medicine and Therapeutics
Cystic Fibrosis: Management
Sinus disease and chronic...
Targeted Cancer Therapies
There are several types of targeted therapies against...
Gene Therapy
iPS Cell Differentiation

