USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A July 25, 2018 statement from UsAgainstAlzheimer’s Chairman George Vradenburg applauded the work of Eisai and Biogen on their BAN2401 Alzheimer’s disease drug. According to Vradenburg, “Eisai and Biogen have been steadfast in their commitment to innovation in the Alzheimer’s space. We welcome the opportunity to bet, with them, on their success and to ready the marketplace for rapid adoption of their product if, as and when approved for marketing. While those at Eisai and Biogen are doing their part to combat Alzheimer’s disease, the war against this disease cannot be won by them alone… The disease is a shared problem that requires shared solutions.”

MUST READS

A July 30, 2018 Fortune article looked at the mixed analysis of the release of the Alzheimer’s disease experimental drug BAN2401’s Phase II clinical trial findings last week. According to the article, “…In this latest trial, what no one doubts is that the targeted antibody does a bang-up job of clearing beta-amyloid plaques from the brain. The higher the dose, in fact, the more it wipes it clean. But as one expert put it, that hasn’t exactly resulted in “shock and awe” in terms of a real-world clinical effect.”

A July 30, 2018 STAT article reexamined the debate over the “amyloid hypothesis,” which claims that Alzheimer’s disease is caused by accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain. Biogen and Eisai’s experimental BAN2401 AD drug prevents the plaques from clustering and attacks existing clumps, which is linked to a significant reduction in cognitive decline in clinical trial study participants. The results of the study, announced last week in Chicago at AAIC, have met with mixed analysis. According to the article, ““These results are a mess,” wrote Baird biotech analyst Brian Skorney. “Not so much that they indicate an outright failure of the [amyloid] hypothesis, but they don’t really say anything informative at all.”

A July 26, 2018 Endpoints News article analyzed the mixed reaction to the findings released last week on Eisai and Biogen’s Alzheimer’s disease treatment, BAN2401. According to the article, “Critics quickly began pulling apart the data, finding enough holes in it to squelch Biogen’s share price, which plunged 12%… Instead of cheering on evidence of success, a large group of analysts last night zeroed in on a crucial change in the study that could have confounded the data presented — and now we have a brand new controversy to add to the literature of Alzheimer’s.”

MUST WATCH

Watch the “Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care, and Services” livestream today until 5pm (EST) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Advisory Council will spend the majority of the meeting considering recommendations made by each of the three subcommittees to present to the Secretary of HHS and Congress. Additional presentations in the afternoon will include a presentation on a recent study by RAND on the healthcare infrastructure, the CDC/Alzheimer's Association's joint Healthy Brain Initiative Roadmap, federal workgroup updates, and updates on work by the non-federal members.

SEX MATTERS

A July 26, 2018 Los Angeles Times article spotlighted work from UC Irvine researchers, boosted by a $100,000 grant from UCI’s Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders and Maria Shriver’s Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement, about why women are almost twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The study will examine the relationship between AD and microglia, which are the brain’s primary immune cells and help clear toxic proteins from the brain. According to the article, “For the study, researchers will extract donated skin cells from male and female participants, which will be “reprogrammed” and matured into microglia that can be compared. The microglia will also be put into the brains of male and female mice.”