Author Archives: Forest Ray PhD

BIIB080, an investigational therapy for Alzheimer’s disease, was safe and well-tolerated, and sustainably lowered patients’ levels of tau — a protein linked to neurodegeneration, according to topline results of a Phase 1b clinical trial. “There is clearly an urgent need to develop and deliver effective treatments for Alzheimer’s disease,…

Annovis Bio is seeking orphan drug status for its investigational therapy ANVS401, known as Posiphen, for treating Alzheimer’s disease in people with Down syndrome (DS-AD). The clinical-stage drug platform company has filed an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for such designation, granted to therapies for…

Donanemab showed an ability to slow cognitive decline and the loss of daily life abilities in people at earlier stages of Alzheimer’s disease relative to those given a placebo in the Phase 2 TRAILBLAZER-ALZ trial, researchers report. A plaque-targeting therapy, donanemab also cleared substantial amounts of amyloid plaques in the brains…

Non-invasive neurostimulation given to people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s disease significantly and safely slowed their rate of functional and cognitive decline, meeting key goals of the Phase 2 OVERTURE study, according to data presented at the 2021 AD/PD Conference. Its neurostimulation device, being referred to as a digital therapeutic, uses gamma frequency…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found “deficiencies” that preclude discussing further steps in the approval process for Nuplazid (pimavanserin) as a possible treatment of dementia-related psychosis, according to a press release from Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Nuplazid’s maker. Discussions on “labeling and post-marketing requirements/commitments” cannot take place before certain…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has extended its review period for aducanumab (BIIB037), an investigational therapy for Alzheimer’s disease being co-developed by Biogen and Eisai. The three-month extension means the new deadline to review the compound’s biologics license application (BLA), also known as the Prescription…

A recent report found deep social inequalities in U.S. counties with the highest Alzheimer’s rates among Blacks and Latinos. Inequalities related to education, income, food insecurity, and the physical environment are collectively known as social determinants of health and are inextricably tied to location, according to the report from…

A Phase 1 trial is enrolling patients with mild to severe dementia from Alzheimer’s disease to test IGC-AD1, an investigational cannabis-based treatment being developed India Globalization Capital (IGC) Pharma, a subsidiary of IGC, according to a recent press release. In the placebo-controlled study, 12 participants will…

The National Institute on Aging, a division of the National Institutes of Health, is awarding a $1.76 million, one-year grant to support a Phase 1 clinical trial investigating oral Jotrol as a potential treatment of early stage Alzheimer’s disease. The study is to be called “Safety and Pharmacokinetics…

A specific form of the tau protein, called phosphorylated-tau-217 or p-tau217, may function as a blood biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease, allow the development of blood tests to accurately diagnose the disease at earlier stages. These are the findings of three studies presented during the recent Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC)…