USA2 SPOTLIGHT

JOIN US TOMORROW - Wednesday May 23, 2018 at 7pm (EST) - for our A-List Facebook Live Launch. Log in to learn more about the A-LIST, already at over 6,000 members, a first of its kind online community of people with or at risk for Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer's disease or other dementias, including current and former care partners. Our panel includes Author, Journalist and Alzheimer's Advocate Meryl Comer, Health Outcomes Senior Director Holly Krasa, Caregiver Martha Villanigro-Santiago, and Leaders Engaged on Alzheimer's Disease (LEAD) Executive Director Ian Kremer. A-LIST is an initiative of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. Click here to join.

A May 22, 2018 CISION PR Newswire release from the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation (GAP) expressed gratitude to the volunteers of Janssen’s experimental BACE inhibitor, Alzheimer’s disease drug atabecestat clinical trial. According to GAP’s President John Dwyer, "We at GAP thank those who have courageously joined together in supporting this study. All of these heroes are critical to our collective fight against Alzheimer's. Janssen spent years of effort and expended substantial resources to find a therapy for the scourge we know as Alzheimer's." GAP is a partner of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.
 

INDUSTRY UPDATE

A May 21, 2018 RAPS (Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society) post reported that pharmaceutical companies developing early Alzheimer’s treatments submitted a round of positive comments last week on the FDA’s draft guidance about accelerated drug approval pathways. According to the post, “Biogen also applauded FDA’s “openness to exploring the accelerated approval pathway for future AD programs. Biogen recognizes that at this time there may not be sufficient evidence that an observed treatment effect on biomarker measures is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit. However, the Agency’s acknowledgement that this pathway may apply, as scientific understanding progresses, will foster critical dialogue between sponsors, the Agency and the broader scientific community.”” 

MUST WATCH

A May 21, 2018 ABC 10 News broadcast video and article featured Rock Star of Science Dr. Rudolph Tanzi of Harvard Medical School, who plays keyboard live with Aerosmith’s Joe Perry. His scientific work focuses on developing new drugs to prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Speaking about recording tracks for the new album on his way into work at Massachusetts General Hospital, “Anything you can do to nurture your creative brain will spill over into the main thing you do and allow you to do it better.”

A May 20, 2018 CBS New York broadcast segment and article featured New York Mets legend Bud Harrelson, who is talking about his Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis. He spoke at an Alzheimer’s Foundation of America conference in NYC. According to the article, “When an audience member asked Harrelson how it feels having Alzheimer’s, he replied, “Most of the time, I don’t feel it.” “I still think I can play. Hey, it would be cool, wouldn’t it?” he added.”

ALZ TECH

A May 21, 2018 Wired article by Lucy Johnston relied on her knowledge about her grandmother’s Alzheimer’s to appreciate ‘reminiscence therapy’ virtual reality experiences. VR helps people ‘time travel’ back to joyful experiences from their past to jog memories. UK healthcare start-up Virtue created a new type of VR memory portal. According to CTO Scott Gorman, “It’s only now that the phone in your pocket is advanced enough and VR headsets are reducing in price that we can really democratise access to this type of impactful therapy.”