SRI Roche : Translational Medicine Collaboration to Study Methods and Treatments Associated with Cognitive Deficits across Neuropsychiatric Disorders

November 10, 2009 — SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, announced that its Center for Neuroscience has entered into a research collaboration with F. Hoffmann-La Roche to study procedures and treatments for cognition impairments in neurological and psychiatric conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, depression and schizophrenia.
Research will take place in SRI's laboratories in Menlo Park, California... SRI International's press release -

Grifols : interim results of its clinical trial on Alzheimer’s disease

9/22/2009 - The preliminary results of the trial suggest that patients who received treatment showed a trend towards stabilization of the disease

The line of investigation was based on the systematic practice of therapeutic plasmapheresis with Human Albumin Grifols in patients with this disease

Back in 2005, the Clinical Research Department at Grifols designed a clinical study to explore whether the use of successive plasmapheresis with human albumin in patients with Alzheimer’s disease could mobilize the beta amyloid protein implicated in the disease from the cerebrospinal fluid into the blood. Dr. Boada, Medical Director of the Fundació ACE and Clinician Head at the Neurology Service at the Vall d’Hebron Hospital, Barcelona, agreed to conduct this preliminary study, and the positive results with respect to the cognitive status of the patients treated gave rise to the design and development of a clinical trial with the participation of three hospitals in Spain and two in the United States.

The interim results of this trial, recently published in the journal Drug News and Perspectives (DOI: 10.1358/dnp.2009.22.6.1395256) highlight both the improvement of cognitive status of patients treated and the evidence that amyloid beta is mobilized in the blood of patients who undergo therapeutic plasmapheresis with albumin. However, it is necessary to complete the clinical trial before the improved cognitive development can be confirmed... Grifols' Press Release -

Accera : Peer-Reviewed Publication of the Results of its 90-day Clinical Study of AC-1202 (Axona™) in Mild to Moderate Alzheimer’s Disease

August 12, 2009 – Accera, Inc., a biotechnology company delivering breakthrough therapies in central nervous system (CNS) disorders, announced publication of a scientific paper in the peer-reviewed journal Nutrition & Metabolism. The paper, entitled “Study of the ketogenic agent AC-1202 in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial” suggests that daily administration of AC-1202 (Axona™) can help improve cognition and memory in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD)... Accera's Press Release -

Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation Funds EDUNN Biotechnology to Develop Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease

January 15, 2009 - The Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) announced that it is providing a grant of $100,000 to Edunn Biotechnology, Inc., an early stage company dedicated to developing a novel class of drugs to treat and prevent Alzheimer's disease (AD)

Edunn's lead drug candidate, EDN-OL1, is an oligonucleotide-based drug that has shown promise in halting and reversing the progression of AD in animal models. EDN-OLI reduces the production of amyloid beta proteins found in the brain and believed to cause AD... Edunn Biotechnology's Press Release -

Sanomune : Promising new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease licenced

March 4, 2009 – A Canadian bio-technology company, Sanomune Inc., has licensed a new treatment method that helps drugs to reach the brain unlike any other treatment for neurological diseases. The treatment method, developed by HealthPartners Research Foundation, is a new therapeutic technology offering hope to the 5.2 million people in the United States living with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological diseases.

The intranasal method was developed by William H. Frey II, Ph.D., senior director of HealthPartners Research Foundation’s Alzheimer’s Research Center, and his colleagues. It allows medication to bypass the protective blood-brain barrier and enter the brain directly. Dr. Frey developed a way to bypass the barrier for neurological conditions using intranasal delivery of Deferoximine or SAN-121. SAN-121 has previously been shown when given in twice daily injections to reduce cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients by 50 percent. However, systemic delivery has unwanted and negative side effects including a drop in blood pressure. With intranasal delivery, side effects can be significantly reduced... Sanomune's Press Release -

Avineuro : positive Phase I clinical trial results on AVN-101, potent small molecule for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

October 26th, 2009 – Avineuro Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reported clinical Phase I results on AVN-101, a potent small molecule for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. AVN-101 was well tolerated in a wide range of doses and no adverse events were observed. Avineuro Pharmaceuticals, Inc. plans to start Phase II clinical trials with AVN-101 in Alzheimer’s disease in Q1 2010... Avineuro Pharmaceuticals' Press Release -

Mithridion : Phase I Study Results in Alzheimer’s Disease

April 7, 2009 -- Mithridion, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focusing on serious central nervous system (CNS) disorders, announced results from a Phase I pharmacokinetic and clinical study of MCD-386, its lead drug candidate for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). MCD-386 is an M1 selective muscarinic agonist with “first-in-class” potential for improving memory and cognition symptoms, and for disease-modifying effects (or stopping disease progression) in AD...

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...Mithridion is developing a controlled release formulation with the dual objectives of extending the duration of action and avoiding elevated peak (Cmax) concentrations, while maintaining the MCD-386 concentration above the therapeutic level. The company plans to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of MCD-386 in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, ascending multiple-dose Phase I study to commence in the fourth quarter of 2009... [PDF] Mithridion's Press Release -

Critical Outcome Technologies: Launch of a Drug Discovery Program for Alzheimer's Disease

July 21, 2009 : Critical Outcome Technologies Inc. (COTI) , announced that the Company has undertaken the discovery and optimization of novel lead compounds for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). “Based on partnering interest expressed by multiple global pharmaceutical organizations we have decided to establish a drug discovery program to help combat this devastating disease”, said Mr. Michael Cloutier, Chief Executive Officer of COTI.
To address this substantial unmet medical need, COTI has leveraged its proprietary drug discovery technology CHEMSAS® to develop a novel approach for the discovery of potentially effective oral treatments for AD. Multiple and interacting factors have been proposed as causes of AD and there is an increasing number of validated therapeutic targets. Traditional drug development has focused on agents that inhibit an enzyme of the neural transmitter Acetylcholine. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency have approved treatments for AD from this class that currently dominate the market although they have not produced results that consistently meet the requirements of healthcare professionals and patients. The COTI scientific team has focused their research efforts on the area of secretases, a class of enzymes that cut the amyloid precursor protein into three fragments. Sequential cutting by beta secretase and gamma secretase produces the beta amyloid peptide fragments that accumulate into the "plaques" or scars found in the brains of people with AD... [PDF] Critical Outcome Technologies' Press Release -