SHANGHAI, Feb. 23 -- Chinese researchers have identified a new therapeutic target for Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder with high disability and mortality rates, and have successfully discovered a promising small-molecule drug.

A research team from Huashan Hospital, affiliated with Fudan University in Shanghai, achieved this breakthrough, which could enable early intervention in Parkinson's disease and offer hope for slowing its progression. The findings were published on Friday (Beijing time) in the renowned academic journal Science.

Parkinson's disease, the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's, affects around 3 million people in China-roughly half of the global total. Patients often first exp...