Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia

Overview

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) accounts for approximately 70% of dementia related illness and vascular dementia another 17%. Difficulty remembering names and recent events, apathy and depression are typical early symptoms. Later stage symptoms include impaired judgment, disorientation, confusion, behavioral changes and trouble speaking, swallowing and walking, eventually leading to death. Dementia is a devastating and costly disease for the family as well as the patient, particularly since a cure and indeed even the root causes of the disease remain to be discovered. In the developed world, the number of dementia cases rises each year because the population in these countries is tending to grow older. It is estimated that there are currently 5.3 million Americans afflicted with the disease and the vast majority of those are over 65 years of age. Indeed, one in eight persons over 65 have AD and the disease consumes two thirds of health care spending for persons in this age group.

AD is characterized by deposits of the protein fragment beta-amyloid (plaques). It is believed that these plaques may induce contraction and inflamation of small blood vessels, reducing cerebral blood flow thus causing the death of brain cells. One of the suspected mechanisms causing the vessel contraction is through plaque enhancing the vasoconstriction and inflammatory properties of Endothelin (ET). ET is a vasoconstrictor peptide used by the body to control arterial blood flow. When ET attaches to a receptor on a blood vessel, the vessel contracts. An ET antagonist can block the ET from attaching to the vessel and prevent the contraction. In animal models, it has been found that the administration of an ET antagonist to AD induced rats increased cerebral blood flow and improved short term memory. EndogenX believes that ET antagonists may be useful agents for preventing and retarding the progression of AD and dementias of vascular origin.

	Research		PreClinical		Clinical		Market
ENDG6010 Prevention/treatment