Faster please – Researchers find genetic cause for Alzheimer’s, possible method to reverse it
Researchers at Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco identified the primary genetic risk factor for the disease, a gene called apoE4. They were able to create a harmless apoE3-like version by inserting a class of compounds into it.
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Lead author Dr. Yadong Huang, a senior investigator and director of the Center for Translational Advancement at Gladstone, told UPI he is working with an undisclosed startup pharmaceutical company in the San Francisco Bay area to “further develop the apoE4 structure corrector approach and move toward clinic trials.”
“My lab and my collaborators are working hard to move our discovery toward clinical trials as quickly as we can,” he told UPI.
Huang said apoE4 can be targeted directly for Alzheimer’s disease drug development, but that there is no defined timetable for clinical trials.
“It is difficult to estimate when a drug could be on the market given the complexity of drug development,” Huang said. “We are likely several years away from a drug being on the market, but with concerted effort, we are working to accelerate the timeline as much as possible.
Currently 5.4 million people suffer from Alzheimer’s. I suspect this treatment most likely can’t help them, but it can help the next 5.4 million and the 5.4 million after that.