USA2 SPOTLIGHT

A January 25, 2018 UsAgainstAlzheimer's press statement urged newly confirmed Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to make Alzheimer's a top priority. According to UsAgainstAlzheimer's Co-Founder and Chairman George Vradenburg, "More than 5 million people currently live with Alzheimer's at a cost of $259 billion a year. Without any treatment, those numbers are projected to grow significantly. By putting financial resources in place and breaking down regulatory barriers, the U.S. could lead the way in reaching a breakthrough. We are committed to working with Secretary Azar and welcome the opportunity to brief him on this urgent health challenge for HHS and the nation."

According to a January 24, 2018 Cogstate article, the Global Alzheimer’s Platform (GAP) Foundation chose Cogstate, a cognitive science company, to support GAP’s rater certification program that will significantly increase the speed and quality of Alzheimer’s clinical trials. It will qualify and train clinical trial site personnel to administer cognitive and functional assessments for AD studies. “GAP’s mission is to accelerate the development of new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. We hope to eliminate redundant rater training – thereby providing a faster pathway for AD clinical trial sites to start enrolling their trials,” said GAP’s Jason Bork. GAP is a partner of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s. 

INDUSTRY UPDATE

A January 24, 2018 Forbes article took a fresh look at the “amyloid hypothesis” in light of new data from the Expedition3 trial, which finds that solanezumab does not produce even a modest slowdown in Alzheimer’s disease cognitive decline. According to author and Professor Michael Murphy of the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging at the University of Kentucky, “There may be problems with how we’ve been thinking about this. Some success in preclinical studies evolved into this idea that what we need to do is remove the soluble form of the [amyloid-beta] peptide from the brain. But all [human] trials ended up being disappointing—they didn’t really work.” Also covered by: Time and Science Daily.

RESEARCH, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

A January 24, 2018 Science Trends article looked at the possibility of utilizing biomaterial to improve memory formation and reduce neuroinflammation in the brain. According to a team led by Anderson Lobo at MIT, “Our goal is to connect nano and bioengineering with the brain, introducing novel materials which can improve neuroprotective properties for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative pathologies, via the sustained long-lasting release of drugs and by providing support to improve neuronal functions by distinct pathways. The strategically developed biodevice provides a guideline for the development of an implantable material that may represent an important impact for Alzheimer’s disease therapy.”

EVENTS AND RESOURCES

The Alzheimer’s Prevention Registry is recruiting people 18 and older for the MindCrowd online memory test study, to understand how memory is affected by aging. “MindCrowd is a new way to approach scientific research, learn how the brain functions and how genetics might influence memory. While there are many different ways to test memory performance, this is the first time online research will be gathered, analyzed and pursued for insight into cognition and memory and the relationship to Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders through genetics.”