Scientists Receive $4.6M Grant to Study FDA-Approved Alzheimer's Drug

KTNV 13 reports that the U.S. National Institute of Aging and the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation have awarded five-year grants of $3.2 million and $1.4 million, respectively, to researchers from the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health to study the therapeutic possibilities of the anti-cancer drug lenalidomide in early-stage Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The team will conduct complementary clinical studies to identify whether lenalidomide lowers inflammation and other disease-related neuropathological features, and enhances cognition in MCI patients. Lenalidomide is a multi-purpose agent that has demonstrated several effects on the immune system in cancer patients. The hope is that the investigations will yield an approach for targeting multiple Alzheimer's neuropathologies simultaneously. As a medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration, lenalidomide's safety and toxicity profiles are pre-established, which will help expedite testing and progression in Alzheimer's clinical studies if the current project is successful.