USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A February 17, 2017 UsAgainstAlzheimer’s (UsA2) post reported on the most recent setback toward finding a cure for Alzheimer’s, namely Merck’s announcement that they are halting their verubecestat study. UsA2 applauds the diligence and investment of all the principal investigators in the study, and clinical trial participants and their caregivers for their commitment to fighting AD. “The spirited work of Merck and other drug companies that are concentrating vast resources into a cure for Alzheimer’s is not underappreciated. Each outcome, while assuredly disheartening, builds our knowledge and leads us closer to a solution for the millions of people with Alzheimer’s or related dementias,” said UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Co-Founder and Chairman, George Vradenburg. “Just as we have before, we will keep working incessantly, passionately and strategically so that the next round in this fight goes to us.” Vradenburg issued a letter outlining future steps to continue on the path to a cure.

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A February 17, 2017 AMA Wire article reported on a new longitudinal study on women, published in PLOS One, which shows evidence that females experience cognitive aging as early as midlife. “Our results provide strong, longitudinal evidence of cognitive aging in midlife women, with substantial within-woman declines in processing speed and memory,” wrote the authors, led by Arun S. Karlamangla, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine. “Further research is needed to identify factors that influence decline rates and to develop interventions that slow cognitive aging.” Research has shown that two-thirds of the 5 million Americans 65 and over with Alzheimer’s are women and that at 65, women without AD have more than a one-in-six chance of developing the disease, compared with a one-in-11 chance for men of the same age. The American Medical Association (AMA) recently adopted policy supporting increased awareness of the sex and gender differences in Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

A February 17, 2017 The Hill opinion piece by Emily Trunnell, PhD, called for the NIH to review its spending priorities before it requests any additional funding. Each year, NIH awards 40% of its research budget to experiments that use animals as “models” of humans. A 2015 analysis concluded that as much as 89% of animal studies could not be reproduced, a fundamental step used to confirm the validity of scientific results, which amounts to $28 billion wasted every year. A 2014 review published in the British Medical Journal found that “even the most promising findings from animal research often fail in human trials and are rarely adopted into clinical practice.” Case-in-point is the recent failure of Lilly’s Alzheimer’s solanezumab, which had tested successfully in mice and monkeys. Animals don’t suffer from AD (no non-human animal is known to). The clinical failure rate for new Alzheimer’s drugs is 99.6%. Multiple systematic reviews have documented the overwhelming failure of animal experimentation to benefit human health in other areas, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, mental illness, addiction and more. The author contends that the NIH must tackle this waste head-on by diverting funds from animal experimentation to animal-free, human-relevant research methods.

A February 17, 2017 AZ Central article reported on questions over the effectiveness of new drugs to combat Alzheimer's disease, even as drug trials continue. Scientists have long theorized that beta-amyloid accumulation leads to memory and thinking problems, while others have challenged this hypothesis. No beta-amyloid attacking drugs have proven successful at combating cognitive decline in patients with AD. Phoenix-based Banner Alzheimer’s Institute believes that giving at-risk patients drugs earlier (before memory and thinking problems surface) is a possible way to attack AD, and are running two such clinical trials. “There is no guarantee that any of these will work,” said Dr. Eric Reiman, Banner’s Executive Director. “I believe we have at least a 50% chance that one of them works,” by 2025.