LEXINGTON, Mass., Dec. 9, 2013 — Alzheon, Inc., today announced that it has been invited to participate in the world’s first G8 Dementia Summit, hosted by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. Alzheon’s Chief Executive Officer, Martin Tolar, will be among the industry leaders in attendance at the summit along with G8 Health Ministers, innovators, technology pioneers, researchers and investors. Government and industry leaders from the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized countries will convene at the Lancaster House in London on December 10 and 11, 2013, to discuss plans to coordinate and shape effective international solutions to dementia – a condition for which the vast majority of patients suffer from Alzheimer’s disease but also includes vascular dementia, Lewy body dementia, frontotemporal dementia and other causes of cognitive decline.
“Dementia has proven to be the major medical challenge of our time, now threatening the well-being of not only our patients but also world economies,” said Martin Tolar, MD, PhD, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alzheon. “We commend this bold and visionary initiative that the Prime Minister and the Health Secretary have undertaken to assemble leaders from government, research and industry to focus on new approaches to address the unmet needs for patients with dementia around the world.”
The G8 Dementia Summit will explore ways to develop coordinated global action on dementia, a condition that affects an estimated 44 million people worldwide and has increased 17% since just 2009 according to new statistics released last week by Alzheimer’s Disease International. The summit will address key issues such as stimulating greater investment and innovation, accelerating the development of new drugs for the prevention and treatment of dementia, and improving quality of life for people with dementia.
“The global crisis of dementia has already reached epidemic proportions and grown beyond G8 countries to become an international challenge,” Dr. Tolar commented further. “At Alzheon, we are committed to developing our novel drug candidate, ALZ-801, as one of the handful of new approaches that can reach Alzheimer’s disease patients in the next few years. We are honored to play a role in G8 collaborative global effort and to offer Alzheon’s expertise in developing innovative treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders to achieve our common aim of bringing new treatments to patients with dementia.”
About the G8 Dementia Summit
The United Kingdom’s Prime Minister David Cameron and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt are hosts of the first G8 Dementia Summit. Health ministers from G8 countries are invited to attend the summit to discuss coordinated efforts for an effective international solution to dementia, including development of effective therapies and responses to slow dementia’s impact. The summit will aim to identify and agree a new international approach to dementia research, to help break down barriers within and between companies, researchers and clinicians and secure a new level of cooperation needed to reach shared goals faster than nations acting alone. They will draw on the expertise and experience of the OECD, World Health Organization, industry leaders, national research organizations, key opinion leaders, researchers and physicians.
About Alzheon
Alzheon, Inc. is committed to developing innovative medicines for patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological and psychiatric disorders. Our lead clinical candidate, ALZ‐801, is a first‐ in‐class, oral inhibitor of amyloid aggregation and neurotoxicity—hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. ALZ‐ 801 is an optimized, novel prodrug that builds on the established safety and efficacy profile of the active compound in clinical trials of more than 2,000 patients. Our mission is to apply our discovery platform and development experience to unlock new classes of therapeutics that make a difference in patients’ lives by directly addressing the underlying pathology of devastating neurodegenerative disorders.
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