Metabolic Solutions To Present On Alzheimer's Drug
KALAMAZOO -- Metabolic Solutions Development Co. LLC will provide an update on the clinical evaluation of MSDC-0160, a compound being investigated in an ongoing Phase 2a trial in subjects with mild to moderate dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, at the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation 13th International Conference on Alzheimer's Drug Discovery in Jersey City, N.J. Sept. 10.
MSDC-0160 is a novel insulin sensitizer that modulates mitochondrial metabolism. Growing evidence suggests that loss of mitochondrial function, resulting in a corresponding decline in brain glucose metabolism, could be a contributing cause of Alzheimer's disease.
The presentation will take place from 12:05 to 12:25 p.m. by Jerry Colca, MSDC founder, president and CEO.
In the clinical study ongoing at the Rush Memory Clinic at the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Chicago, Dr. Raj C. Shah, Center director and the study's principal investigator, is looking to determine if MSDC-0160 improves the brain's use of glucose. A special brain imaging technique called fluordeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography, or FDG-PET, is being used to measure brain cell glucose utilization.
Patients who are 55-85 years of age, who do not have diabetes, and who have been diagnosed with mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease are being enrolled in the clinical trial. Patients in the study will be randomized to receive either MSDC-0160 or a placebo once daily for 90 days. Patients will also undergo two FDG-PET brain imaging scans.
An earlier preclinical study in a mouse model conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago indicated that MSDC-0160 may reduce Alzheimer's-like pathology in mouse brains. As a result of this finding, investigators at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago are conducting a Phase IIa trial that will help determine if the drug therapy affects glucose utilization in specific regions of the brain.
This clinical study, as well as the preclinical study at the University of Illinois at Chicago, has been funded by a grant from the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation.
For more information about the clinical trial for Alzheimer's disease, contact Lindsay Franti at (312) 563-4111 or Lindsay_Franti@rush.edu.
