MUST READS

A March 22, 2019 The New York Times article by former Times reporter Phillip S. Gutis relied upon his personal experience in Biogen’s aducanumab Alzheimer’s disease clinical drug trial to convey the real human toll of a failed trial. “Even though its days seemed numbered, I continued to participate in the aducanumab trial… Why put myself through all that when I knew in my heart that the drug wasn’t going to stop my Alzheimer’s progression? I truly believed that I was a small piece in the search to find a cure… I started what I called the #shoechallenge. For each infusion or test, I’d wear a different pair of silly shoes and post about it on Facebook… I will miss the shoe challenge and my time in the trial. In addition to trying to help find a treatment, participating in the trial gave me something to do, an appointment on the calendar, a few hours out of the house.”

A March 21, 2019 STAT article challenged the soundness of the enduring amyloid hypothesis in light of Biogen and Eisai pulling the plug on its aducanumab trials, and in the wake of other notable Alzheimer’s disease clinical drug failures. According to the article, “It’s starting to feel like a very sad real-world version of the old Monty Python sketch, where no matter how many limbs the dark knight has lopped off by his sword-wielding foe, he declares it’s only a flesh wound. If there is a silver lining, it’s that the failures of anti-amyloid compounds and antibodies usually teach us more about Alzheimer’s. The aducanumab debacle, for instance, reinforces the realization that removing amyloid plaques, as antibody after antibody has done, “is simply too late for symptomatic patients,” said longtime Alzheimer’s researcher Dr. Rudy Tanzi of Massachusetts General Hospital.”

CLINICAL TRIAL SPOTLIGHT

A March 23, 2019 CNBC article spotlighted Jeff Borghoff, and his wife Kim, who was a participant in Biogen’s aducanumab trial for the past three years. According to the article, “The first 18 months was a double-blind placebo study, meaning Jeff didn’t know whether he was getting the treatment or the placebo. Then they revealed he was receiving the treatment. He and Kim felt like it had slowed the progression of the disease, though they have not seen any of the results. Jeff knew that since this was an experiment, the treatment could fail and the drugmaker could end the trial at any point. Still, he and his family were not quite prepared for it to really end.”

BRAIN HEALTH

A March 20, 2019 Reuters article looked at new research into chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), head injuries common to boxers and football players due to repeated blows to the head, resulting in dementia similar to Alzheimer’s disease, including tau tangles. Utilizing cryo-electron microscopy, scientists can distinguish between CTE and AD, which may help doctors diagnose different forms of dementia in the future. According to Michel Goedert of Britain’s Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, “Our new knowledge of these structures could make it possible to diagnose CTE in living patients by developing tracer compounds that will specifically bind to the tau filaments of CTE.”

ALZ TECH

A March 20, 2019 Discover Magazine blog post highlighted three superstar Stall Catchers, participants in a gamified, online Alzheimer’s disease virtual laboratory. Anyone can join the thousands who have already zoomed through mouse brains, helping identify clogged blood vessels that may lead to Alzheimer's. Register here to join the Megathon for Citizen Science Day on April 13, 2019. On Citizen Science Day 100,000+ participants will use the Stall Catchers game at the same time for one hour to help advance AD research.

EVENTS AND RESOURCES

Register for the free virtual “Advances in Alzheimer's Research 2019 ONLINE SYMPOSIUM” from Technology Networks, which will highlight some of the most exciting research being conducted into Alzheimer’s disease. May 29, 2019. Register here.