GlaxoSmithKline and AFFiRiS : exclusive licence and option agreement for therapeutic Alzheimer’s disease candidate vaccines

23 October 2008 - GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals S.A. (GSK) and AFFiRiS GmbH announced the execution of a collaboration agreement granting GSK exclusive rights to AFFiRiS’s Alzheimer’s disease vaccine programmes, aimed at treating Alzheimer’s by targeting beta-amyloid.

As part of the agreement, GSK is acquiring exclusive rights to develop and commercialise two Alzheimer’s disease vaccine candidates that are based on AFFiRiS AFFiTOPE technology and are currently in Phase I clinical development. AFFiRiS is also granting GSK an exclusive option to develop and commercialise alternative Alzheimer’s disease vaccine candidates which are in preclinical development... GlaxoSmithKline's Press Release - [PDF] AFFiRiS' Press Release -

deCODE : IND for DG071, a Novel PDE4 Modulator Being Developed for Alzheimer’s and Other Cognitive Disorders

October 3, 2008 – deCODE genetics (Nasdaq:DCGN) announced the filing of an investigational new drug (IND) application for DG071, the company’s novel small-molecule modulator of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The compound is being developed as a new and potentially safer means of targeting PDE4 to combat memory loss and cognitive deficits associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders in which neural signaling is reduced or impaired. In animal models, DG071 has been shown to significantly improve learning and long- and short-term memory at doses that offer a wide margin for safety and tolerability. The compound has the potential to eliminate the nausea that limits the utility of previous PDE4 inhibitors. deCODE plans to advance the clinical development of DG071 with a strategic partner... deCODE genetics' Press Release -

Neuronascent : Multiple Fundings for Its Neurogenesis Therapeautic Programs

October 13, 2008 – Neuronascent, Inc. announced that the Company has received funding from multiple sources to further the development of its novel, neurogenic compounds targeting Alzheimer’s disease, depression and ischemia...
...The company’s lead compounds, currently in preclinical testing, aim to replace damaged neurons, restore neurons critical to cognition and memory and enhance neuroprotection against neurodegenerative diseases. Results from recent animal studies show a reversal of cognitive loss in aged mice to young levels... [PDF] Neuronascent's Press Release -

Taconic and Samaritan Pharmaceuticals : Availability of New Rat Model to Study Alzheimer's Disease

October 1, 2008 - Rapid Time to Disease State Makes Model Highly Valuable to Researchers - Taconic, one of the largest laboratory rodent providers in the world, together with Samaritan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTC BB:SPHC.OB), a biopharmaceutical company committed to commercializing new innovative therapeutic drugs, announced the partnering of Samaritan Pharma's Alzheimer's rat model designed to test new, promising drugs for Alzheimer's disease to Taconic Farms. This rat model is now available exclusively through Taconic.

Developed by Samaritan Pharmaceuticals, the Samaritan FAB Rat Model induces Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia occurring in the elderly. The model is groundbreaking in that it offers significant advantages over other options previously available for the study of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

Since only an estimated 5% of all Alzheimer's cases are passed on genetically, the use of genetically modified mouse models poses limitations that are avoided by the FAB model. In addition, the new model requires a significantly shorter time to the disease state, only four weeks, as compared to the much lengthier process required to age transgenic mice... Taconic's Press Release -

Cellumen : Partners with Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation to Develop New Assays for Early Treatment of Alzheimer

September 30, 2008 - Collaboration Will Guide Innovation for Development of Assays to Treat Complex Disease; Cellular Systems Biology Approach to Enable More Physiologically Relevant Drug Screening - Cellumen, Inc. announced an agreement with the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) to apply Cellumen’s Cellular Systems Biology (CSB) technology to create a cellular model of Alzheimer’s disease.

The main objective of the partnership is for Cellumen to develop a panel of CSB assays, as well as biosensors of key protein:protein interactions, that reveal the activity of multiple targets and pathways implicated in Alzheimer’s disease in an intact, functioning cellular system... [PDF] Cellumen's Press Release -

Link Medicine : $40 million Series C Financing to Accelerate Development of First Disease-Modifying Treatments for Neurodegenerative Disorders

September 30, 2008 - Co-led by Clarus Ventures and SV Life Sciences,the Financing will Advance Preclinical and Clinical Programs - Link Medicine Corporation, a privately held biotechnology company advancing novel approaches for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, announced that it has obtained $40 million of Series C equity financing to help move its lead preclinical programs into human clinical testing. The round was funded by two leading biotechnology investors – Clarus Ventures and SV Life Sciences.

Link Medicine, founded in March 2005, is focused on developing the first disease-modifying therapies for the treatment of several neurodegenerative diseases – including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The company is pursuing innovative approaches to target a common feature of these disorders - the buildup in nerve cells of incorrectly folded, aggregated and ultimately neurotoxic proteins... Link Medicine Corporation's Press Release -

TheraGenetics : Agreement with King’s College London to Participate in AddNeuroMed Consortium to Identify Biomarkers for Alzheimer’s Disease

September 10^th, 2008 - Company will provide pharmacogenetic testing for Alzheimer’s patients treated with cholinesterase inhibitors to determine response to treatment - TheraGenetics Limited, a personalized medicine diagnostics company that is developing and commercializing a portfolio of pharmacogenetic diagnostic tests to guide and improve the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, announced an agreement with King’s College London for its participation in the AddNeuroMed Consortium to identify biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease that can be used to determine patient response to medications. TheraGenetics will undertake a pharmacogenetic study of Alzheimer’s patients treated with cholinesterase inhibitors in the study... TheraGenetics' Press Release -

QuantRx Biomedical : FluoroPharma, Inc. to Report Preclinical Data on Alzheimer’s Disease

September 9, 2008 – QuantRx® Biomedical Corporation (OTCBB:QTXB), a broad-based diagnostics company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative diagnostic products based on its patented technology platforms for the worldwide healthcare industry, broadcasts that QuantRx’s FluoroPharma, Inc. announced that Dr. David Elmaleh, FluoroPharma’s founder and Chief Scientific Advisor, will report on two preclinical studies demonstrating the potential of novel Positron Emission Tomography (PET) molecular imaging agents for detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and prostate cancer at the World Molecular Imaging Congress, in Nice, France on September 10-13, 2008...
QuantRx Biomedical's Press Release - FluoroPharma's Press Release -