Article in Biospace.com, the most comprehensive Life Science industry news and information source
Excerpt
The main breakthrough in the past year for pharmaceutical treatment of AD is that researchers finally know what the right target is – a toxic amyloid oligomer formation that is a key driver for the disease. Biogen isn’t the only one targeting it with their drug candidates. Also in the race are Alzheon with ALZ-801, Eisai’s BAN2401 and Roche’s gantenerumab.
Unlike the intravenous antibody candidates from the other three, Alzheon’s ALZ-801 is an orally administered amyloid oligomer inhibitor. Alzheon recently dosed their first patients in a Phase II biomarker study in APOE4 carriers. Patients with an APOE4 gene are at a much higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s, particularly if you were passed two of the genes. In August, the National Institute of Aging awarded Alzheon an unprecedented $47 million grant to assist with a Phase III clinical trial of ALZ-801. The trial is slated to start at the beginning of next year with a timeline of 2-3 years to complete. This Phase III will be dosing younger people with Alzheimer’s pathology to test for primary prevention, intervening before clinical symptoms appear.
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