The purpose of this study is to determine if hydroxychloroquine is safe to take and whether there is potential for it to slow the progression of PD symptoms. This will be done by comparing how PD symptoms progress throughout the study compared to how people with PD typically progress. Within PD, it is thought that an inflammation response is associated with abnormal forms of a protein called alpha-synuclein in the brain. Individuals who have taken this medication for other conditions have been shown to be less likely to develop PD than people who have not taken this medication. Therefore, it is hoped that the study drug may interrupt the inflammation response and in turn stop/delay the progression of PD.
The subject is ≥35 and ≤80 years of age at the time of informed consent.
The subject has a clinical diagnosis of PD for at least 6 months and for no longer than 4 years before initiation of screening as confirmed by a neurologist using the MDS Criteria for Parkinson's Disease (Postuma, Berg et al. 2015)
The subject has a Hoehn and Yahr score ≤2.
The subject has been on stable doses of PD medications for at least 30 days and the investigator does not anticipate they will require a change of their usual PD medications for a period of 48 weeks.
The subject has atypical or secondary parkinsonism by medical history or in the opinion of the investigator. Atypical parkinsonism includes, but is not limited to, diagnoses of progressive supranuclear palsy, cortico-basal syndrome, and multiple system atrophy. Secondary parkinsonism includes drug-induced, toxin-induced, postinfectious, posttraumatic, or vascular parkinsonism.
The subject has a history of (within 60 days before initiation of screening) or has planned upcoming major surgery that could interfere with, or for which the treatment might interfere with, the conduct of the study or that would pose an unacceptable risk to the subject in the opinion of the investigator.
The subject has any active or chronic disease including but not limited to cardiomyopathy or condition other than PD that could interfere with, or for which the treatment might interfere with, the conduct of the study or pose an unacceptable risk to the subject in the opinion of the investigator based on medical history, physical examination, vital signs, 12-lead ECG, or clinical laboratory tests.
Minor deviations of laboratory values from the normal range may be acceptable if judged by the investigator to have no/minor clinical relevance.