What's New in the Quest for Alzheimer's Drugs

Axios reports there currently are about 326 active, recruiting, or enrolling-by-invitation clinical trials for Alzheimer's drugs, according to clinicaltrial.gov . Last year, the United States ramped up funding for Alzheimer's research from $400 million to more than $2 billion annually. The precise cause of the disease remains elusive, with much research focused on beta-amyloid proteins that build up in the brain. Despite a lack of effective treatments yielded from this research, some drug companies are still pursuing anti-amyloid solutions, like a phase 3 trial of BAN2401 that focuses on persons with mild Alzheimer's or a phase 3 trial of AMG 520/CNP520. The latter aims to block the BACE1 enzyme that helps form amyloid plaques. Other trials, like a phase 2 test of PDE4D, are hoping to preserve people's memories and slow degeneration caused by the disease. Still other efforts concentrate on predicting the onset of Alzheimer's.