News

A new Facebook app can provide emotional support to unpaid caregivers of Alzheimer’s disease patients, according to a study. Researchers at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis developed the app as part of an investigation that looked at “friendsourcing” as a type of peer support group intervention. In particular, they wanted to…

Janssen pulled the plug on a Phase 2b/3 trial and a Phase 2 safety study of its Alzheimer’s disease experimental therapy atabecestat due to toxicity issues as a result of serious elevations in liver enzymes seen in some study participants. Atabecestat is a BACE inhibitor, intended to…

Alkahest‘s Phase 2 clinical trial testing GRF6019 — an experimental blood-derived protein — in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease has dosed its first participant, the company recently announced. The trial (NCT03520998), which will assess the safety, tolerability, and feasibility of GRF6019, is still recruiting participants. Researchers expect…

A new National Institute on Aging (NIA)-funded collaborative project will bring together scientists from different disciplines to study a range of issues affecting older adults, including Alzheimer’s disease. The Research Centers Collaborative Network (RCCN) will be funded with $2.5 million over year years by the NIA at the National…

Verubecestat (MK-8931) indeed failed to slow cognitive and functional decline in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s patients despite some reduction in beta-amyloid levels seen, final results of a Phase 2/3 study closed early by Merck for lack of efficacy confirmed. The researchers behind this study suggested these findings may call into question…

The Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) is searching for participants to enroll in one of the largest and longest trials on Alzheimer’s disease. This ongoing study aims to develop biomarkers for the early detection and tracking of Alzheimer’s over time. Researchers need to enroll approximately 800 participants,…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Tonix Pharmaceuticals’ investigational new drug (IND) application to support the start of a Phase 2 trial of TNX-102 SL in Alzheimer’s patients with agitation. In December 2016, the treatment candidate was granted breakthrough therapy status — a process designated…

A rat model genetically engineered to express high levels of two genes can help researchers learn more about the disease mechanisms that lead to Alzheimer’s disease, a new study shows. The study, “Memory deficiency, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, and amyloid-β plaques in APP+PS1 double transgenic rat model…

Biogen and Ionis Pharmaceuticals are expanding their strategic collaboration through a new 10-year agreement to develop novel RNA-targeted therapy candidates for a broad range of neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. This agreement builds on the collaboration that produced Spinraza (nusinersen), the first and only approved treatment…

Sleep deprivation in healthy people leads to the accumulation of a protein fragment associated with abnormalities in brain function and Alzheimer’s disease. The study, “β-Amyloid accumulation in the human brain after one night of sleep deprivation,” published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the…