BNC Korea Inc. is picking up exclusive commercial rights to Kariya Pharmaceuticals ApS’ dual GLP-1/GIP agonists for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease in five countries – a move that comes shortly after BNC Korea dropped $1.5 million into the Danish pharma for a 4.5% stake.

The U.S. FDA granted Roche Holding AG breakthrough device designation for the Elecsys pTau217 assay that it is developing with Eli Lilly and Co. The test will help with the earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease as it will be able to identify pTau217, a phosphorylated fragment of the protein tau, which is a biomarker that can distinguish the disease from other neurodegenerative disorders.

Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings introduced a glial fibrillary acidic protein blood-based test available commercially in the U.S. for the early detection of neurodegenerative diseases and brain injuries. The test, which the company said was the first of its kind, is designed to assess the presence and progression of Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, glioblastoma and traumatic brain injury.

After decades of trying and dozens of failed trials, amyloid targeting has paid off with the first disease-modifying agents reaching the market. But success does not mean slam dunk. Aduhelm (aducanumab, Biogen Inc.) was dogged by controversy throughout its brief tenure, and Biogen pulled the plug on it in early 2024. Leqembi (lecanemab, Biogen Inc.) has received full approval. In this second installment of a three-part series on Alzheimer’s, BioWorld looks at the nuanced view of amyloid’s role in the disease.

Inmed Pharmaceuticals Inc. has reported new preclinical data demonstrating INM-901’s pharmacological effects for the potential treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Several preclinical studies were conducted in well-characterized Alzheimer’s disease models.

At a recent meeting on “Research priorities for preventing and treating Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias” (ADRD), convened by the National Academies, one consensus priority on ADRD research was that there needs to be more of it at every stage. Several speakers presented stark numbers on the relative volume of research in cancer and neurodegeneration. Research output, measured in peer-reviewed papers, for dementia is estimated to be around 10,000 papers annually, compared to 150,000 for cancer, while AD clinical trials are also few and far between compared to cancer trials. This final installment of BioWorld’s series on Alzheimer’s explores some of the reasons for this discrepancy along with the latest advances and ongoing efforts to accelerate research and drug development in the field.

Ironically, the first person to be diagnosed with what is now Alzheimer’s disease was missing its major risk factor. When she first began showing symptoms of dementia in 1901, Auguste Deter was not particularly old. Despite Deter’s case, aging is the largest risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s, by a large margin. But “geroscience has not been translated into drugs for Alzheimer’s disease,” Howard Fillit, Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation co-founder and chief scientific officer, told BioWorld. “We’re just starting to see that cross-fertilization now.”