Inês Martins, PhD, managing science editor —

The first three patients have been dosed in a Phase 2a clinical trial investigating Annovis Bio‘s lead compound ANVS401 as a treatment for people with early Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, the company said. The trial (NCT04524351) will recruit up to 68 participants at 15 sites scattered…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and given priority review designation to Biogen‘s application requesting the approval of aducanumab (BIIB037) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. While the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) action date is set for…

Biogen is pushing back the submission of aducanumab, its investigational treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the third quarter of this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company announced. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created a challenging situation for…

A variety of shark species from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans have high concentrations of two toxins linked to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s in their fins and muscles, according to researchers at the University of Miami. Their study, “Cyanobacterial Neurotoxin BMAA and Mercury in Sharks,”…

Regular physical activity, normal body mass index (BMI), and a healthy diet may prevent the onset of Alzheimer’s disease by reducing the incidence of protein aggregates in the brain, according to a study that will appear in the September issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

A new immunotherapy targeting apolipoprotein E4 (apoE4), a genetic variant of apolipoprotein E that increases the risk of early onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD), may be a potential therapeutic approach for a good number of patients with the disease, according to researchers at Tel Aviv University, Israel. Researchers, working with mouse models, found that blocking…

A single oral dose of methylene blue is able to increase the response of brain regions that control attention and short-term memory, according to University of Texas Health Science Center researchers. Methylene blue has proven useful as a surgical stain to guide procedures and in the treatment of methemoglobinemia, a blood disorder…

Chocolate consumption may protect older people from cognitive decline, possibly preventing the development of Alzheimer’s disease, according to Portuguese researchers at the Institute of Molecular Medicine. However, researchers cautioned this is only true for people who drink an average of less than one espresso per day. The study, “Chocolate…

Unbalanced, unhealthy zinc levels show in many diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and pancreatic cancer. But lack of information about the molecular structure of zinc transporters hampers the discovery of new drugs to bring zinc to proper levels (homeostasis) with other important elements. Researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) have taken a new step toward the development of…

The major genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the apolipoprotein E4 gene, is responsible for the disruption of a particular type of brain activity required for memory consolidation, according to the study “Apolipoprotein E4 Causes Age-Dependent Disruption of Slow Gamma Oscillations during Hippocampal Sharp-Wave Ripples,” published…