News

The Dementia Discovery Fund will pump $5 million in initial financing into Cerevance, a start-up developing new approaches to treating dementia patients, 60 percent of whom have Alzheimer’s disease. The venture capital fund invests in companies and projects pursuing disease-modifying therapies for dementia. Cerevance has dual headquarters in Boston…

Memory loss and cognitive dysfunction, two hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease, have now been linked to low levels of one particular protein, called NPTX2. The discovery represents a stepping-stone in the mechanisms underlying this disease, which may help in the development of new therapies. The study, “NPTX2 and cognitive dysfunction in…

Neurotrope‘s investigational drug bryostatin might improve cognition and the ability of patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease to care for themselves, according to a Phase 2 trial. The placebo-controlled trial (NCT02431468) evaluated the safety, tolerability, and effectiveness of bryostatin in 147 people with Alzheimer’s…

Canada’s ProMIS Neurosciences today presented the latest results of its Alzheimer’s disease therapeutic program and discussed its lead candidate drug PMN 310 on the final day of the April 22-28 annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Boston. The company’s chief development officer, Johanne Kaplan, presented the poster, “Achieving the optimal profile…

Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals has received $10 million from two pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and AbbVie, to advance its treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease, and other neurodegenerative diseases toward clinical trials. Together with a previous investment from Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Aquinnah’s research and development support totals $15 million. “We…

Oryzon Genomics is receiving $300,000 from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation to continue developing its Alzheimer’s treatment ORY-2001. In exchange, the foundation, which has been a longtime partner of Oryzon, will receive shares of the company’s stock. Oryzon develops epigenetics therapies, which regulate genome function without affecting the makeup of genes…

Results from four recent studies confirmed the beneficial clinical effects of Namenda (memantine), an FDA-approved Alzheimer’s therapy, to treat the disease’s behavioral and functional symptoms in people with moderate to severe disease. The studies, sponsored by Allergan, are being presented in poster format at the 2017 annual meeting of the American…

Two therapies — one approved and the other already in clinical testing — were seen in a study in mice to work to reduce brain shrinkage and prevent brain cell death. The therapies block a cellular pathway known to be responsible for neurodegeneration and brain cell death in mice. One of the…

The Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) seeks help from leading experts, pharmaceutical companies and nonprofit organizations around the world to fight Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia among older adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is the fifth leading…

Sedatives increase the risk of pneumonia in people with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a recent study, acting as a reminder to physicians that non-medical approaches should be considered before drugs in these patients. The study, “Risk of pneumonia associated with incident benzodiazepine use among community-dwelling adults with…