Nov 24, 2020
There are still no
disease-modifying therapeutics for dementia patients, but James Moe
thinks that will change soon. This podcast discusses research on a
particular drug that's showing promise, but also helps with
understanding Alzheimer's disease progression.
On a hopeful note, James Moe emphasizes how close the
neurodegeneration research community is to developing significant
breakthroughs.
Listen and learn
Oligomerix, Inc. focuses on neurodegenerative diseases of the brain, such as the management of Alzheimer's disease. James Moe says that when they started the company, they decided to focus on the tau protein despite a contemporaneous emphasis on amyloid. Among other reasons, their thought was to focus upstream in the pathway by blocking the tau protein from binding to itself. Their research showed that neurodegeneration is connected to the neuron damage resulting from tangles the protein accumulations caused. This began their quest to develop self-association assays for tau.
Almost 6 million Americans
suffer from
Alzheimer's disease symptoms and it poses a significant burden
on health care costs of our country in addition to the pain of
patients and families. But developing preventions of Alzheimer's
dementia and effective treatment is no small task. However, because
there's been so much investment by the medical community, James
Moe feels that the field is developing a "mass amount of knowledge
. . . and is on the cusp for major therapeutics." Their own
research has shown in vivo data where phosphorylation was
diminished in three different regions throughout the molecule. This
should prevent the misfolding that leads to neuron-damaging
tangles. Listen in for more about the exciting potential of this
therapeutic.
For more about the company, see
their web site: oligomerix.com.
Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK