Medical Tribune September 2008 P5
David Brill
A promising new treatment
has been shown to halt the
progression of cognitive
decline in patients with mild and
moderate forms of Alzheimer’s
disease.
The drug, a modified form of
methylthioninium chloride, targets
the tau protein tangles that develop
in the disease, whereas other drug
development efforts have largely
focused on the amyloid beta pathology.
A phase II randomized trial
found that the therapy reduced the
rate of cognitive decline by 81 percent
compared to placebo, following
50 weeks of treatment.
Cognitive function in drugtreated
patients did not change significantly
over 84 weeks compared
with baseline.
“So far we [have] the first clinical
trial to show that targeting tau
tangles may have some effect on
cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s
patients. So this is a complete
paradigm shift to current thinking
on the cause and the treatment of
Alzheimer’s in the world today,”
said Dr. Seng Shay Way, managing
director of TauRX Therapeutics,
the Singapore-based company
that developed the drug.
“This is very exciting and it
shows a lot of promise and potential.
But most importantly, if
we manage to tackle this disease
it will actually help a lot of families
and Alzheimer’s patients,” he
said.
Seng estimates that the drug,
which is taken orally three times a
day, could be commercially available
by 2012, depending on the results
of an upcoming international
phase III trial.
The present trial involved 321
subjects in Singapore and the UK.
Cognitive function was assessed
using the Alzheimer’s Disease
Assessment Scale Cognitive Subscale.
Brain imaging at 25 weeks
showed that the treatment was
having the greatest effect in areas
with the highest density of tau
tangles. This validates the theory
that tangles are an important
cause of dementia in Alzheimer’s,
Seng said.
Methylthioninium chloride
has been used in the past to treat
methemoglobinemia and urinary
tract infections. The modified
version contained in the drug appears
to dissolve the filaments of
tau tangles, thereby preventing
aggregation of the protein without
affecting its normal function.
The trial was a joint venture
between TauRX and researchers
from the University of Aberdeen
in Scotland. The results were presented
at the recent 2008 International
Conference on Alzheimer’s
Disease in Chicago, US, and at a
press conference in Singapore.
TauRX has yet to decide
whether to publish the phase II
results in a journal, Seng said, but
added that the phase III results
will be published when they are
available.
David Brill
A promising new treatment
has been shown to halt the
progression of cognitive
decline in patients with mild and
moderate forms of Alzheimer’s
disease.
The drug, a modified form of
methylthioninium chloride, targets
the tau protein tangles that develop
in the disease, whereas other drug
development efforts have largely
focused on the amyloid beta pathology.
A phase II randomized trial
found that the therapy reduced the
rate of cognitive decline by 81 percent
compared to placebo, following
50 weeks of treatment.
Cognitive function in drugtreated
patients did not change significantly
over 84 weeks compared
with baseline.
“So far we [have] the first clinical
trial to show that targeting tau
tangles may have some effect on
cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s
patients. So this is a complete
paradigm shift to current thinking
on the cause and the treatment of
Alzheimer’s in the world today,”
said Dr. Seng Shay Way, managing
director of TauRX Therapeutics,
the Singapore-based company
that developed the drug.
“This is very exciting and it
shows a lot of promise and potential.
But most importantly, if
we manage to tackle this disease
it will actually help a lot of families
and Alzheimer’s patients,” he
said.
Seng estimates that the drug,
which is taken orally three times a
day, could be commercially available
by 2012, depending on the results
of an upcoming international
phase III trial.
The present trial involved 321
subjects in Singapore and the UK.
Cognitive function was assessed
using the Alzheimer’s Disease
Assessment Scale Cognitive Subscale.
Brain imaging at 25 weeks
showed that the treatment was
having the greatest effect in areas
with the highest density of tau
tangles. This validates the theory
that tangles are an important
cause of dementia in Alzheimer’s,
Seng said.
Methylthioninium chloride
has been used in the past to treat
methemoglobinemia and urinary
tract infections. The modified
version contained in the drug appears
to dissolve the filaments of
tau tangles, thereby preventing
aggregation of the protein without
affecting its normal function.
The trial was a joint venture
between TauRX and researchers
from the University of Aberdeen
in Scotland. The results were presented
at the recent 2008 International
Conference on Alzheimer’s
Disease in Chicago, US, and at a
press conference in Singapore.
TauRX has yet to decide
whether to publish the phase II
results in a journal, Seng said, but
added that the phase III results
will be published when they are
available.
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