Syntara's Parkinson's candidate slows motor decline in high-risk patients, Phase 2 trial shows
Australian biotech Syntara said its experimental drug SNT-4728 produced a statistically significant motor-function difference against placebo at week 24 in a 41-person Phase 2 trial of people with isolated REM sleep behaviour disorder, a condition linked to high Parkinson's risk. Principal investigator Professor Simon Lewis of Macquarie University presented the results in Seoul, and no treatment-related serious adverse events were reported. Syntara's chief executive Gary Phillips described the findings as encouraging, though the company acknowledged the study was small and exploratory.
Bottom line — Syntara says the findings justify further study, but the trial's small size and mixed secondary results leave the benefit unproven.
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The benefit held for 12 weeks after treatment stopped, according to Syntara, which the company said suggests a lasting clinical response rather than short-term symptom masking.
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BiotechDispatch reported that the smartphone-based motor composite moved in the same direction as clinician scores but without a statistically significant group difference.
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Syntara itself said its trial was not designed to detect change across every measure and that cognition, quality of life and iRBD symptom measures showed no marked changes.
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Syntara's earlier PET imaging, reported in July, showed reduced brain inflammation in the putamen, which Syntara links to the motor findings.
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Evolution Capital's March 2025 initiation report valued Syntara at A$0.235 per share, but attributed only its MF programme (SNT-5505) to that figure and excluded the Parkinson's asset.
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Evolution's report had flagged Phase 2 Parkinson's results as expected in H2 2025, which these results now precede.
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Syntara's skin-scar candidate SNT-6302 caused mild, reversible redness and itching in eight participants of a keloid study, according to Syntara, prompting a move to successor compound SNT-9465.