The New Era of Life Sciences
Alzheimer’s:
Approaching a Cure
As conspicuous as the rise of genomics is in the life sciences, it is certainly not the only area where innovation seems to have reached an inflection point. In recent years, the scientific community has made great strides in unraveling the mysteries of age-related neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, which jointly affect more than 60 million people worldwide. Martin Tolar, CEO, Alzheon says that “up until last year, all Alzheimer’s research has been unsuccessful, with the cost of failures over the past decade reaching tens of billions of dollars.” However, new breakthroughs in research are bringing hope to those affected. Advances in genetics have provided a deeper understanding of the complex risk factors that contribute to these conditions, while developments of new drugs are offering new pathways for treatment.
Eli Lilly is targeting plaque with its drug Donanemab, which according to their CEO, David Ricks, “is a super high affinity molecule that gets rid of plaque in the human brain at a very rapid rate, which we think is the negative agent causing the trouble.” Ricks also remains convinced that the study is particularly promising. BioVie, on the other hand, is one of the smaller biotechs exploring untrodden roads in relation to Alzheimer’s. Its CEO, Cuong Do, tells us that not long ago “we realized plaques and tangles were not necessarily the toxic agent causing neuronal death. What we did learn is that they are both inflammatory.” This means that chronic inflammation may play a significant role in the development and progression of the disease. BioVie is exploring anti-inflammatory treatments as a potential way to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer’s, and its candidate awaits FDA approval. Cuong Do also claims that inflammation is “the root of many other evils”, as it “leads to the hyper-methylation of our DNA and hence an acceleration of the aging process.” His advice if we are to avoid it? “Exercise better, eat better, and be careful about the environment you put yourself in.”
Source: Newsweek
