Wednesday, 1st June 2016 – Defying Dementia: from Compound to Clinic – Dr Penny Foulds
Dr Foulds, an Honorary Researcher at Lancaster University, gave a most interesting and useful talk about their efforts to develop a new treatment for dementia.
“Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is increasing in frequency as the global population ages and only five drugs are approved for treatment of AD. There is no cure for AD, or medication to slow the progression of the condition. We have an urgent need to find new therapies.
Several years ago Lancaster developed a drug that blocks the formation of ‘senile plaques’ found in the brains of victims of Alzheimer’s disease/dementia. This drug blocks the assembly of these plaques, along with their toxic effect, on brain cells. It is highly stable in the body and is tagged so it can cross the blood-brain barrier. The drug reduces the load of plaques present in cell models of the disease, along with reducing inflammation and improving memory.
It is the case that relatively few clinical trials are undertaken for AD therapeutics, considering the magnitude of the problem. The success rate for advancing from one phase to another is low, and the number of compounds progressing to regulatory review is among the lowest found in any therapeutic area. The AD drug-development ecosystem requires support.
Blackpool based company MAC Clinical Research (Est. 1988) who have been successfully conducting medical research on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry for over 25 years, have agreed to take our drug towards human clinical trials, if it passes the regulatory tests that we are currently fundraising for!!
Last Updated on September 9, 2021