Alzheimer's Disease Project
Alzheimer's Disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting 47 million people worldwide with global healthcare costs of US $818 bn. Alzheimer's is projected to affect 130 million people by 2050.
Big pharmaceutical companies have ventured into finding a solution for Alzheimer's. Most investigations are based on the thesis that Alzheimer is caused by the accumulation of a protein called Amyloid-β, none of these investigations have provided successful long-term outcomes. This has resulted in staggering amounts of resources lost.
“Amyloid-β has had an irresistible pull on drug developers because human genetic data strongly argue that the peptide causes the disease. But at least 20 failed Phase III trials, and zero successful ones, argue equally strongly that it's not the path to success.”.
Selina Koch, PhD
Koch, S. (2019). How the amyloid hypothesis holds its grip.
Our Pathway of Study
At Memosyne we have followed an alternative thesis which states that Alzheimer's Disease is caused by the neuron's long-term synaptic depression (LTD). Long term neuronal depression happens when the neuron's receptors interact with a series of proteins, blocking the synaptic process. Long-term synaptic depression results in neuronal death.
Based on this new approach, we have designed a peptide that blocks the interaction between the neuron's receptors and harmful proteins. By blocking this interaction, synapsis can occur normally. As such, affected neurons leave their depressed state and the peptide's effect called "synaptic rescue" occurs, reverting memory loss and recovering cognitive functions.
Our study and peptide development is backed by a report by expert Dr. Gurutz Linazasoro, which has endorsed and validated our study and theory. Dr. Linazasoro ir a renowned neurologist, Director of the Program of Advanced Therapies for Alzheimer's Disease and CEO of Vive Biotech in the Basque Country, Spain. He has also participated in various Alzheimer's disease investigation trials collaborating with major pharmaceutical companies.
A comprehensive review of different sources of information (Clinicaltrials.gov, Alzforum, CTAD Congress, Drug Pipeline papers,...), as well as a personal round of meetings with the most important drug companies in the field (Roche, Genentech, Biogen, Eisai, Novartis, Lilly, Astra Zeneca and Abbvie), led us to conclude that there are no similar drugs in a more advanced development phase than this.
Gurutz Linazasoro, MD.
On: Expert's Report by Dr. Linazasoro.
Status Quo and Upcoming Challenges
The peptide's efficiency has been proved and developed through several tests on animal models. The compounds have had such promising results that we aim to continue developing the peptides to take the first steps to pre-clinical regulatory phase.
Memosyne seeks funding to develop the compounds into pre-clinical regulatory trials, perform toxicity tests and, eventually, enter into Phase I/II Clinical Trials. Our final objective is to obtain a treatment that not only prevents the onset development of Alzheimer's Disease, but enables affected patients to recover their cognitive functions. Our research ultimately aims to offer a much needed solution for the critical problem Alzheimer represents.