Metabolic Solutions Development Company (MSDC) announced today that it has received a $100,000 grant from the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) to support the evaluation of PPAR-sparing insulin sensitizers as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease.
ADDF funding will support a collaboration between Dr. Douglas Feinstein (Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and University of Illinois at Chicago) and MSDC. Feinstein's research focuses on neurodegenerative diseases while MSDC is developing novel treatments for type 2 diabetes and related metabolic diseases.
"Initial findings in our ongoing research suggest that some insulin sensitizers, including MSDC's lead compound MSDC-0160, currently in Phase II studies for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, might slow down the buildup of plaques in the brains of mice," said Feinstein. "These mice are engineered to develop plaques similar to those found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's. Positive results from these studies would encourage further investigation of MSDC-0160 in the treatment of Alzheimer's."
Initial findings were presented at the 10th Annual International Conference on Alzheimer's Drug Discovery (www.alzdiscovery.org) in Jersey City, N.J. and demonstrated that a one-month treatment of MSDC-0160 can reduce both the number and size of the amyloid plaques in mice. Ongoing studies are evaluating whether the compound can improve the cognitive deficits in the Alzheimer's mouse model.
"We are very enthusiastic about the potential of MSDC's compound for Alzheimer's disease," said Howard Fillit, MD, ADDF's executive director. "Our relationship is another demonstration that venture philanthropy funds can provide a critical catalyst for innovative drug discovery research conducted by biotechnology companies such as MSDC."
Earlier this year, MSDC reported that a Phase IIa clinical trial in type 2 diabetic patients showed that MSDC-0160 can improve insulin response and lower glucose in individuals with type 2 diabetes without producing the weight gain seen with currently marketed PPAR-activating insulin sensitizers. MSDC-0160 and MSDC's other insulin sensitizers work through a novel target discovered by the company's founders while minimizing PPAR activation.
Numerous scientific studies have shown a link between type 2 diabetes, cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Some studies have implied that measures to prevent or control diabetes may lower the risk of dementia and suggested that certain diabetes drugs should be tested to find out whether they can help Alzheimer's patients.
"This funding from the ADDF is an important first step in what could be a key development in the treatment of Alzheimer's," said Jerry Colca, president and chief scientific officer of MSDC. "For MSDC, if our compounds can reverse cognitive impairments in animal models, this may have important implications for the treatment of type 2 diabetes as well."
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