Alzheimer trial yields positive results

[Demeter]

Source: FT.Com

By Clive Cookson, Science Editor

Published: April 14 2009 01:19 | Last updated: April 14 2009 01:19

A potential treatment for Alzheimer’s, which is designed to tackle the underlying causes of disease, has given promising results in its first clinical trial.

Scientists at University College London gave a new drug called CPHPC to five patients for three months. They found that it removed a blood protein called SAP, which is believed to be involved in the formation of damaging “plaques” in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients.

The treatment caused no side-effects and the patients showed no clinical deterioration during the trial, though it did not last long enough for the researchers to assess clinical benefits. The details are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Mark Pepys, a UCL professor of medicine who has been working for more than 20 years on SAP as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer’s, now plans a larger trial. Eighty to 100 patients would receive either CPHPC or a placebo pill over several months.

Read more: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a2cd7a1a-251e-11de-8a66-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss

[No Elephants]

1. Too bad about Roche's "other research priorities," eh?

[Javaman]

2. but they passed on the rights to another company, they could have just killed it but didn't.

"and last December Roche passed all its rights in CPHPC to Pentraxin Therapeutics, a UCL spin-out company."

It appears to me that the research is not only continuing but expanding:

"Mark Pepys, a UCL professor of medicine who has been working for more than 20 years on SAP as a therapeutic target in Alzheimer’s, now plans a larger trial. Eighty to 100 patients would receive either CPHPC or a placebo pill over several months."

not defending Roche, but it appears as if your snarky comment falls flat.

And on a personal note: my mom has Alzheimer's and I am happy to hear of these results and the continued research.

[mainer]

3. Unfortunately, reversing plaques doesn't necessarily improve function

The presence of plaques may just be a correlation, not causation. Although the patients did not deteriorate, it doesn't seem as if they improved, either.

The makers of an effective anti-Alzheimer's drug would be sitting on a gold mine -- I'm surprised there isn't more of a race to find a cure.

[Dogtown]

4. Following from that reasoning, mainer,

it isn't likely that Roche would walk away from such profit potential.

There's some flaw with this approach that they feel isn't fixable.

[Demeter]

5. Not Necessarily

the Pharma industry seems to be self-destructing. The bean counters in charge cannot wait for results, they just want to buy results to boost next quarter's reports. So they buy up the old-style firms that do research, development and testing, then lay off all the researchers, developers, and testers....

[sarcasmo]

6. Good news for my wife, kick and Nom.