Category: Alzheimer's

MEwens
There are many mysteries when it comes to understanding Alzheimer’s disease, with one of the biggest questions centering on how the memory-robbing disease progresses.
Decades ago, researchers discovered that the damage starts in the same part of the brain in all patients and systematically moves on to affect nearby regions. It wasn’t clear, however, why this progression […]

MEwens
Ending Dimebon Development: Pfizer and Medivation are ceasing development of Dimebon, an experimental Alzheimer’s treatment, the WSJ reports. It was the second phase 3 trial of the drug to fail. In 2008 Pfizer agreed to pay Medivation $225 million upfront plus up to an additional $500 million if milestones were met for development […]

MEwens
Lowering diabetics’ blood sugar below current recommended levels doesn’t prevent cognitive decline, according to a 3,000-patient study that is part of a larger trial known as ACCORD.
Insulin is important to normal brain functioning and reduced levels have been suspected to contribute to progression of Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia. (The results […]

MEwens
Lowering diabetics’ blood sugar below current recommended levels doesn’t prevent cognitive decline, according to a 3,000-patient study that is part of a larger trial known as ACCORD.
Insulin is important to normal brain functioning and reduced levels have been suspected to contribute to progression of Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia. (The results […]

MEwens
Defending PBM Combination: The CEOs of pharmacy-benefit managers Express Scripts and Medco Health Solutions defended their proposed merger before a House antitrust subcommittee yesterday, pointing to the entrance of new competitors to the market, including UnitedHealth, Dow Jones Newswires reports. Express Scripts Chief Executive George Paz also said the deal wouldn’t make sense […]

MEwens
Though some Big Pharma companies have invested heavily in Alzheimer’s research, not all drug makers think it makes financial sense to spend precious R&D dollars on developing treatments for the disease.
Clinical trials for Alzheimer’s drug treatments are growing costlier, reducing the incentive for pharma companies to conduct the studies, said Jessica Federer of […]

MEwens
More E. Coli on the List: The U.S. Department of Agriculture is planning to add six strains of E. coli to its list of adulterants, which means the sale of raw beef tainted with the bacteria won’t be permitted, the WSJ reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The American Meat Institute acknowledges […]

MEwens
Summitt in 2010.
Legendary University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt says she has symptoms of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, though she plans to coach as long as she can.
Summitt, who is 59, tells the Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins she first thought memory lapses were side effects of a rheumatoid-arthritis drug, but that Mayo […]

MEwens
Early Focus: Research increasingly suggests that Alzheimer’s disease damages the brain years before symptoms appear, raising the possibility that treatments should be focused on this early phase if there’s a hope of slowing or reversing the disease, the WSJ reports. That’s why Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb are looking to treat […]

MEwens
On the heels of data out yesterday from Eli Lilly showing that the company’s shelved gamma secretase inhibitor’s negative cognitive impact on participants didn’t reverse even months after treatment, Bristol-Myers Squibb said today that participants on higher doses of its own gamma secretase compound in a mid-stage trial also showed hints of negative […]