If this trial is successful, it will allow the company to give an NDA for ALPHA-1062 next year. The drug is being created as the next generation acetylcholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI) which is designed to expand the current standard of therapies by increasing the treatment effect, lowering gastrointestinal side effects and delaying the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease.
During the firm’s R&D webcast, researchers gave exciting results demonstrating that their dual mode of action for the drug could have significant benefits in people with AD.
Here is why that dual mode of action is so crucial and what makes Alpha 1062 an amazing entry into the AD space.
In Alzheimer’s patients, neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine are in low supply in the brain. These lower levels cause poor memory, learning problems and other cognitive issues.
To deal with this, doctors have long used acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs). These drugs are effective at treating the symptoms of the disease and have been a standard for more than a decade.
Alpha 1062, also increases acetylcholine levels in patients’ brains. But it also modulates the alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR), which is another neurotransmitter that plays a crucial role in memory and attention. By working on these two neurotransmitters, ALPHA-1062 can possibly give benefits for patients who are suffering from the cognitive issues linked to AD.
Research has confirmed that this dual action mode boosts the positive benefits of the treatment. In a long-term study released in “Neurology,” patients on AChEI had a 27% lower death risk and continued to do better on cognitive tests compared to patients who were untreated. For those taking galantamine (which is the active ingredient inside ALPHA-1062), the decreased death risk was 29%. These patients also did the best on cognition tests and were less likely to suffer from severe dementia later on.
If the drug is approved, the patented treatment might become the first of its kind to give the improvements in cognitive function without the side effects that have made it hard for patients to keep to for extended lengths of time.
Author: Scott Dowdy
Comments are closed.