Aphios gets US patent for Alzheimer’s disease treatment

Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Hutchinson’s Disease, Parkinson’s disease, Kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other spongiform encephalopathies remain major health problems. Currently there are very limited means to treat these diseases.

Alzheimer’s, Hutchinson’s and Parkinson’s diseases tend to manifest themselves in older individuals and as the diseases progress; the afflicted individuals are less able to care for themselves. Dr. Trevor P. Castor, CEO, Aphios Corporation states that "It is therefore highly desirable to have simple therapies which can be administered (e.g. oral formulations) without the need for specially trained healthcare providers."

Dr. Castor continues "Our recent in vitro studies have shown that our lead Alzheimer’s disease drug candidate, APH-1104, a potent analog of Bryostatin-1, is neuroprotective by a-secretase activation via novel PKC isoforms, down-regulation of pro-inflammatory and angiogenic processes and the substitution of ß-amyloid for its soluble and harmless relative, sAPP-a at concentrations which are orders of magnitude lower than conventional APP modulators. Our in vivo studies show that we can rapidly restore cognitive performance in AD-transgenic mice by oral administration of an oil-based formulation of Bryostatin-1."

AD is a devastating neurological disorder that currently affects more than 4.5 million Americans at an estimated cost to society of greater than $100 billion per year. The symptoms of AD are associated with progressive brain tissue atrophy and death.

In the early stages of AD, degeneration of cells in the hippocampus leads to short-term memory loss and reduced ability to perform routine tasks (cognitive disorders). As AD spreads through the cerebral cortex, judgment declines, emotional outbursts often occur and language skills are impaired.

AD progression leads to the death of additional nerve cells and loss of synapses and gradually worsening behavior changes, such as wandering and agitation. In the final stages, patients lose the ability to recognize faces, communicate and control bladder and bowel movements.

The average time from diagnosis to death is 4 to 8 years, although it may take 20 years or more for the disease to run its course. AD incidence will increase dramatically with the demographics of the aging populations in US, Europe and Japan. Experts estimate that 22 million people around the world and more than 8 million Americans will be afflicted with AD by 2025.