Where Alzheimer's Research Is Pushing Ahead

The repeated failure of drugs targeting Alzheimer's are adding credibility to efforts by academics and smaller biotechnology companies to better understand the disease's biological mechanisms and investigate alternative drugs, reports the Wall Street Journal . Among the more promising research projects are those focusing on the possible roles played by inflammation, the immune system, viruses, and tau. "The idea of finding that one drug that will hit that one receptor and cure Alzheimer's disease is fool's gold," contends University of Southern California Professor Lon Schneider. "We're unlikely to get anywhere unless we understand and are able to grapple with the heterogeneity of the disease." Genetic and brain-imaging data has revealed that plaques affect Alzheimer's and should not be dismissed as a research area. Although Biogen and Eisai disclosed that one plaque-targeting drug, aducanumab, they were testing failed, they have embarked on a late-stage trial of another compound also designed to clear plaques. For its part, Denali Therapeutics is developing drugs that target inflammation and other aspects of the brain to treat Alzheimer's. Alector, meanwhile, is working on drugs to restore functioning of the brain's immune system, because the company thinks mutations associated with the immune system are causing deterioration of connections between neurons typical of people with Alzheimer's.