NeuroPerspective has released its Fall 2024 issue, featuring our annual comprehensive review of Alzheimer’s, as well as of Anxiety and TBI.
Our Alzheimer’s review appraises the current, minuscule impact of the commercial advents of Eisai/Biogen’s lecanemab and Lilly’s donanemab. They are more similar than different, providing barely (if that) perceptible slowing of disease progression and a rare but not inconsequential risk of ARIA, that may prove to be deadly for .5-1% of patients, a seemingly small percentage that would translate into very noteworthy casualties given the size of the patient population. Other amyloid mAbs, including Lilly’s remternetug and programs from Acumen, AbbVie, and ProMIS hope to improve the risk/benefit profile, via augmenting anti-amyloid impact and/or reducing the risk of ARIA. But they are still three or more years away from potential approval.
Hopes for tau as a target for monoclonal antibodies have been largely dashed due to limited BBB access and even less, if any, intracellular access. There are active vaccine and antibody fragment programs that hope to improve on the original mAb legacy. The most promising programs appear to be in the neuroinflammation and cellular waste disposal categories. The neuroimmunological space has just started to mature, with clinical stage programs underway from Alector/GSK and Alector/AbbVie. This type of midstream focus offers the prospect of disease modification without having to precisely identify the upstream molecular culprit that initiates the disease process. However, the popular TREM2 target appears linked to ARIA as well. There is also a slew of small companies whose programmatic execution has been sloppy and their hyperbole excessive, with Cassava, Anavex, and Annovis prominent in that group, Cognition Therapeutics and Athira having recently flamed out.
Among the 200+ programs assessed are those from: AbbVie/Alector, AC Immune, Actinogen, Advantage, Alnylam, Allyx, Anavex, Athira, Attralus, Biogen, BMS, Casma, Cognition Therapeutics, Cyclerion, Eisai/BioArctic, JNJ, Lexeo, Lilly, Merck, Monument Bioscience, Muna, Myrobalan, Neumora, Neurocrine/Nxera, ProMIS, Prothena, Roche, Takeda, Therini, and Vigil.
The issue also includes a full review of Anxiety, where the pervasive prevalence of the disorder has far eclipsed the paltry resources devoted to bettering the limited generic options currently available. More selective GABAergic programs are underway at AbbVie/Cerevel and Engrail, with public speaking models serving as proxies for Social Anxiety in trials being conducted by Bionomics and Vistagen. Psychedelics are being developed for GAD by MindMed and Cybin. CRF antagonism has been revived by HMNC.
The third therapeutic area reviewed is TBI, another high-prevalence disorder with little available therapeutically, and with Biogen having exited, the developmental candidate roster has shrunken still further. SanBio has obtained provisional approval in Japan for its cell therapy, the potential of ibogaine as a TBI treatment is being explored by Soneira.
The Fall issue includes an overview of Gain Therapeutics, focused on Gcase enhancement in the treatment of Parkinson’s. The Psychedelics Update section critically reviews the FDA’s mishandling of the Lykos Therapeutics application for the use of MDMA in PTSD. As always, there is coverage of significant clinical, fiscal, and partnering events. 112 pages.
NeuroPerspective is the quarterly review of the neurotherapeutics area offering essential, unique, and comprehensive coverage of developments in the science and the business of the CNS sector. A one-year (1-5 user) subscription to NeuroPerspective is $3200. A 6-10 user subscription is $5450. Other customized userbase and startup pricing options are available.
The Fall issue is being made available as a single issue purchase, US$900.
NeuroPerspective
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