October 24, 2013

Today's Top Alzheimer's News

George Vradenburg highlights the research lost due to sequestration, Israel and US cooperation on brain science, relaunching Alzheimer's drug tramiprosate (read more). 
 

 

Must reads

  • An October 23, 2013 Huffington Post piece by USA2 Chairman George Vradenburg highlighted the negative impact of sequestration on research and focused on research lost. According to Vradenburg, "The re-opening of government may have solved the immediate crisis du jour, but there can be no long-term solution to our entitlement and debt problems if we do not beat Alzheimer's. The Path to 2025 Summit should persuade any rational Member of Congress that the scientific and industry players needed to prevent this disease are committed and capable of utilizing additional funding efficiently and effectively to achieve our national goal of stopping Alzheimer's by 2025."
  • An October 23, 2013 Jerusalem Post article reported that US Congressman Chaka Fattah believes "US cooperation with Israel on brain research is an opportunity to find solutions to serious disorders such as Alzheimer's, autism, epilepsy and bipolar [disorder]." According to Rep. Fattah, “What’s important is to note how this relationship portends a gigantic opportunity for the world to get ahead of these diseases and disorders...The reality is that if we can get people working together, then we can solve these problems.” 
Research and science 
  • An October 23, 2013 Fierce Biotech article reported on the relaunching of the Alzheimer's drug tramiprosate. According to the article, "Tolar's new gamble on Alzheimer's, a disease that has so far delivered a pair of snake eyes for every biopharma company that's wagered big sums on a pivotal study, will be built on one of the earlier failures.The drug is tramiprosate, which flunked a big study back in 2009. It's been rebuilt, so to speak, so it can be delivered through the gut in such a way as it can deliver a higher dose where it's needed in the brain. Delivered in higher concentrations, Tolar's team hopes to see the treatment prevent the development of amyloid beta, the toxic protein that builds up in the brains of Alzheimer's patients.
    • An October 23, 2013 Medical Xpress article reported on the need to "put drug discovery back on track." According to Professor Chas Bountra, of the Structural Genomics Consortium, "The world urgently needs new medicines for many diseases such as Alzheimer's, depression, diabetes and obesity..Yet the pharmaceutical industry's success rate for generating truly novel medicines remains low, despite investing tens of billions of dollars."