Cassava Sciences jumps 16% on meeting with FDA paving the way for phase 3 study of Alzheimer's treatment

Westend61/ Shares of Cassava Sciences jumped as much as 16% on Monday on news that it successfully completed an end-of-phase two meeting with the FDA for its Alzheimer's treatment Simufilam. The biotech company will be moving forward with a pivotal phase-three study in the second half of this year.  Simufilam is a novel drug that targets "both neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell Shares of Cassava Sciences jumped...
Tags: Trends, Markets, Alzheimer's Disease, Trading, Fda, Stock Market, Austin Texas, Alzheimer's Drugs, Isabelle Lee, Cassava Sciences, Remi Barbier, Simufilam, Opening Bell Shares of Cassava Sciences, US Food and Drug Administration for Simufilam, Rubicon Simufilam, Alzheimer s Association Shares of Cassava Sciences

Tech for Change

From 3D-printed prostheses to burgers grown in science labs to smarter mobility for the elderly or infirm (or just helping us get more sleep at night), tech improves our lives every day in a million ways beyond simply making things more convenient. Tech can have a meaningful impact — that’s why we call it Tech […]
Tags: Health, Climate Change, Cancer, Environment, Charity, Trends, Renewable Energy, Green, Diabetes, Air Pollution, Conservation, Digital Divide, Alzheimer's Disease, Stem Cells, Archaeology, Recycling

The FDA is delaying a controversial Alzheimer's drug decision. Analysts say that's a good sign.

Atthapon Raksthaput/Shutterstock The FDA is currently examining a Alzheimer's disease drug developed by Biogen and Eisai. Outside experts have said data from two halted trials don't prove the drug is effective. Regulators pushed back the decision deadline to June 7, at latest. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. The Food and Drug Administration is delaying its decision deadline for Biogen and Eisai's hotly debated Alzheimer's disease drug, a move that analysts said bodes w...
Tags: Science, Trends, Alzheimer's Disease, Healthcare, Food And Drug Administration, Fda, Jefferies, Providence, Eisai, Biogen, Aducanumab, Michael Yee, Butler Hospital, Charles Krupa Associated Press, Brian Skorney, Dispensed

Want to stop cognitive decline? Wine and cheese could help.

Iowa State University researchers found that red wine, cheese, and a weekly serving of lamb could help reduce cognitive decline.The observational study is based on a decade of research conducted at the UK Biobank. The team also found that excessive salt could help promote diseases of dementia. The world is not in want of diet advice. Paleo living, vegan lifestyles, eating for your blood type, seasonal and regional eating, low sugar, Mediterannean ingredients, low fat, high fat—numerous bestsel...
Tags: Health, Facebook, UK, Greece, Diet, Neuroscience, Brain, Medical Research, Alzheimer's Disease, Innovation, Mediterranean, Derek, Iowa State University, Willette, Biobank, Mediterannean

An election week for the history books

Welcome to Business Insider's daily healthcare newsletter, your daily dose of pharma, biotech, and healthcare news. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday. Hollis Johnson/Business Insider Hello,I'm not sure what I thought election week was going to look like amid a pandemic, but I do think it was a humble reminder that 2020 might still have some more surprises up its sleeves.Hello from Wisconsin, where I've been posted up part of this week ahead of the second l...
Tags: Senate, Trends, Joe Biden, Alzheimer's Disease, House, Healthcare, Food And Drug Administration, Wisconsin, Fda, Denver, Cvs, Business Insider, Midwest, Mehmet Oz, Blake, Lynch

The promise of the first new Alzheimer's drug in nearly 2 decades

Welcome to Business Insider's daily healthcare newsletter, your daily dose of pharma, biotech, and healthcare news. Subscribe here to get this newsletter in your inbox every weekday. Hollis Johnson/Business Insider Hello,While we wait to hear more about the results of the presidential election, here's the latest in healthcare news.Today: Good news for Biogen's experimental Alzheimer's drug, why massive health insurers like UnitedHealth Group are surging, and the US surpasses 103,000 dail...
Tags: Florida, Oregon, US, Trends, Alzheimer's Disease, Healthcare, Cigna, Fda, Anthem, Oxford University, Abbott, Election 2020, UnitedHealth Group, US Food and Drug Administration, Long Beach California, Biogen

Bio Roundup: CRISPR Kudos, Bristol Myers’s Buy, RNAi Alliance & More

It’s October: a time of days growing shorter, leaves changing color, and phone calls in the wee hours that rouse scientists from slumber notifying them they’ve won the highest honor in their fields.This week, the 2020 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was awarded to Harvey Alter, Michael Alton, and Charles Rice, whose research led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. Their work paved the way for blood tests and new medicines that can cure the infection. In chemistry, the Nobel was awa...
Tags: Deals, Startups, Cancer, Trends, Investing, Merck, It, Software, Alzheimer's Disease, Fda, National, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Biotech, Dementia With Lewy Bodies, Cystic Fibrosis

Bio Roundup: MESO’s Miss, Pfizer’s Cancer Bet, Vaccine Promise & More

Amid the bombast of Tuesday’s presidential debate, viewers caught some discussion about the response to the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. In the crosstalk, the president made an unsupported claim that we are weeks away from having vaccines.It’s true that some pharmaceutical companies are already manufacturing their COVID-19 vaccine candidates for broader use. This production ensures that vaccine product is ready for distribution upon receiving a regulatory deci...
Tags: Deals, Startups, Trends, Investing, Merck, Alzheimer's Disease, Astrazeneca, Fda, National, Type 2 Diabetes, Pfizer, Parkinson's Disease, Biotech, Galapagos, Life Sciences, Bayer

Bio Roundup: Grail Acquisition, Libra’s Launch, Tau Trial Results & More

In biotech, you can go home again. Four years ago, Illumina spun out cancer diagnostics startup Grail. This week, the gene sequencing giant announced it is acquiring Grail in an $8 billion cash and stock deal.Grail set out with the goal of developing a diagnostic test that detects cancer from the genetic snippets tumors shed into the blood. The idea is to diagnose cancer well before symptoms show, giving clinicians a better chance to treat the disease. Grail has tested its technology in tens of...
Tags: Deals, Startups, Trends, Alzheimer's Disease, Fda, National, Novartis, Biotech, Microbiome, Morningside Ventures, Illumina, Life Sciences, Liquid Biopsy, Clinical Trials, Roche, ARCH Venture Partners

Bio Roundup: SeaGen Scores, Dyne’s Debut, Microbiome Moves & More

Gilead Sciences CEO Daniel O’Day has spoken openly about acquisitions as a way to build up the company’s drug pipeline. This week, it made its biggest buy yet.The $21 billion Immunomedics acquisition brings to Gilead a cancer drug that many analysts project will become a blockbuster seller. Some of those analysts think Gilead might have overpaid but the company says there were competing offers. The drug, sacitizumab govitecan (Trodelvy), is what’s called an antibody drug conjugate (ADC). This d...
Tags: Deals, Startups, Cancer, Hiv, Trends, Merck, Alzheimer's Disease, Astrazeneca, Fda, National, Novartis, Pfizer, Abbvie, Biotech, Medical Device, Microbiome

Grifols Moves Deeper Into Proteome R&D With $146M Deal for Alkahest

Alkahest, a company that analyzes blood proteins to develop therapies that address neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, is set to be acquired by partner Grifols in a $146 million deal.Grifols (NASDAQ: GRFS) announced Tuesday that it is acquiring the shares of privately held Alkahest that it does not already own. Barcelona-based Grifols says the deal will help it discover new therapies for age-related diseases.Alkahest develops its therapeutic candidates by analyzing the proteom...
Tags: Deals, San Francisco, Trends, Startup, Neuroscience, Barcelona, Alzheimer's Disease, Novartis, Parkinson's Disease, Biotech, Life Sciences, Clinical Trials, San Carlos CA, Hologic, National blog main, Seattle blog main

Biotech Roundup: FDA Culpa, Tricida Trips, Freenome’s Funding & More

Among the casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic: the credibility of government agencies entrusted with protecting public health.The FDA this week granted emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma as a treatment for infection by the novel coronavirus. FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alez Azar both misrepresented the magnitude of benefit shown in the clinical data used to justify the decision. Public health officials have said more rigor...
Tags: Deals, Startups, Trends, Neuroscience, Acne, Harvard University, Alzheimer's Disease, Fda, National, Epilepsy, Novartis, Pfizer, Parkinson's Disease, Abbvie, Biotech, Medical Device

Judge Being Investigated For ‘Erratic’ Behavior To Retire After Revealing Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

Judicial ethics case takes a 'heartbreaking' turn.
Tags: Law, Courts, Alzheimer’s disease, ShawnDya L. Simpson

Judge Agrees to Retire After Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

Judge ShawnDya L. Simpson, 54, agreed to step down after the Commission on Judicial Conduct determined her behavior in court was “erratic and at times intemperate.”
Tags: News, Alzheimer's Disease, Simpson, Appointments and Executive Changes, Robert H, Commission on Judicial Conduct (NYS, ShawnDya L, Tembeckjian, ShawnDya L Simpson

AbbVie Exits Editas Alliance, Pruning Another Genetic Medicines Pact

AbbVie has terminated a research partnership with Editas Medicines, returning to the biotech rights to an experimental gene-editing treatment. It’s the second genetic medicines alliance the pharmaceutical company exited this week.The Editas therapy, EDIT-101, is in Phase 1 testing as a treatment for a rare, inherited form of blindness called Leber congenital amaurosis type 10 (LCA10). It uses the CRISPR technology to edit the mutated gene that causes the disease. The therapy does its editing in...
Tags: Deals, Boston, Trends, Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Allergan, Abbvie, Biotech, Crispr, Life Sciences, Editas Medicine, Clinical Trials, Cynthia Collins, Gene Editing, Leber, Cambridge MA

Oxytocin may play a role in protecting against Alzheimer's

While the exact cause of Alzheimer's remains unknown, researchers are targeting toxic beta-amyloid buildup. A recent study on mice found oxytocin could be a protective agent against plaque buildup. Though more research needs to be conducted, this is a hopeful sign in our fight against a crippling disease. While Americas watch the battle for the most cognitively-fit president unfold on social media and television, the problem pundits are really discussing is dementia. Currently, 5.7 million Ame...
Tags: Memory, Neuroscience, Brain, Medical Research, Alzheimer's Disease, Innovation, Dementia, Derek, Twitter Facebook, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Eleftheria Kodosaki, Kodosaki, De Crespigny Park London, Kodaski

Dementia on the Retreat in the U.S. and Europe

Rates of dementia have steadily fallen over the past 25 years, a new study finds. But the disease is increasingly common in some parts of the world.
Tags: Europe, News, Blood Pressure, United States, Harvard University, Alzheimer's Disease, Elderly, Dementia, Neurology (Journal, Disease Rates

Bio Roundup: Cerevel’s Shell, Thrive’s Rise, Drug Price Drama & More

The biotech IPO market is buzzing but Cerevel Therapeutics is showing that there’s more than one path to the public markets. This week the neuroscience drug developer reached a deal to merge with publicly traded Arya Sciences Acquisition Corp II.If you’ve never heard of Arya (NASDAQ: ARYBU), it’s a shell company that Perceptive Advisors formed specifically to serve as a vehicle to take a private company public. Cerevel is young, but it’s pretty far along. Bain Capital and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) lau...
Tags: Deals, Sofinnova Partners, Cancer, Trends, Neuroscience, Anxiety, Schizophrenia, Autism, Alzheimer's Disease, Astrazeneca, National, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Pfizer, Parkinson's Disease, Abbvie

Roche Pays $120M for Rights to UCB’s Tau-Targeting Alzheimer’s Drug

As the Alzheimer’s disease world continues to closely follow the development of therapies that break up clumps of beta amyloid on patients’ brains, Roche is placing a bet on another approach via a deal that secures rights to a clinical-stage UCB compound that targets tau, another protein associated with the neurodegenerative disorder.According to terms announced Wednesday, Roche is paying $120 million up front for global rights to the UCB drug, UCB0107. Belgium-based UCB remains responsible for...
Tags: Deals, Europe, Trends, Neuroscience, Alzheimer's Disease, Belgium, Biotech, Life Sciences, Genentech, UCB, Roche, Eisai, Biogen, Eli Lilly, Tau, National blog main

New Blood Test For Alzheimer’s A Huge Breakthrough For Millions Of Patients, Families

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS) – In what is being hailed as a huge breakthrough for millions of suffering patients and their loved ones, a newly developed blood test for Alzheimer’s disease is now within reach. “This is one of the major breakthroughs certainly of the decade,” says University of San Francisco neurologist and radiologist Dr. Michael Weiner, an expert in Alzheimer’s disease. (CBS) The test uses a method to detect and measure certain proteins associated with the degenerative brain disorde...
Tags: News, San Francisco, Alzheimer's Disease, Cbs, Healthwatch, Weiner, University of San Francisco, Michael Weiner, Kacy Counte, Cece Sellgren

‘Amazing, Isn’t It?’ Long Sought Blood Test for Alzheimer’s in Reach

Scientists say such tests could be available in a few years, speeding research for treatments and providing a diagnosis for dementia patients who want to know if they have Alzheimer’s disease.
Tags: News, San Francisco, Research, Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia, University Of California, Clinical Trials, Eli Lilly and Company, Lund University, Tests (Medical, Frontotemporal Dementia, Journal of the American Medical Assn, Your-feed-science, Alzheimer's Assn

Trump Says He ‘Aced’ a Cognitive Test. What Does That Really Mean?

Experts say one popular test that the president might have taken is by no means definitive, or even diagnostic.
Tags: News, Memory, Alzheimer's Disease, Elderly, Dementia, Biden, Trump, United States Politics and Government, Donald J, Joseph R Jr, Presidential Election of 2020, Tests (Medical, Your-feed-science, Your-feed-health, Your-feed-elections

I Miss My Father’s Mind

Was he one of the hidden victims of the coronavirus pandemic?
Tags: News, Alzheimer's Disease, Dementia, Loneliness, Therapy and Rehabilitation, Coronavirus (2019-nCoV

Amylyx Adds $30M to Press On With Neuro Drug for ALS, Alzheimer’s

[Updated, 4:54 p.m.] Amylyx Pharmaceuticals’ two-pronged approach to neurodegenerative diseases has shown promise in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) testing and the company now has $30 million to complete a separate clinical trial in Alzheimer’s disease.The Series B round of financing announced Wednesday was led by Morningside Ventures, a firm that had previously invested in the Cambridge, MA-based biotech.Amylyx’s experimental therapy, AMX0035, is a proprietary combination of two compounds...
Tags: Deals, Startups, Boston, Trends, Neuroscience, Investing, Alzheimer's Disease, Cambridge, Fda, Biotech, Morningside Ventures, Life Sciences, Clinical Trials, National blog main, Boston blog main, Boston top stories

Pride Through Repetition

Coming out repeatedly to my grandmother with Alzheimer’s allowed me to fully embrace my queer identity.
Tags: News, Grandparents, Alzheimer's Disease, Homosexuality and Bisexuality, Families and Family Life, Dating and Relationships

Bio Roundup: Race and Pharma, ASCO Recap, Warp Speed Ahead & More

Race is not a topic that often comes up in pharmaceutical discussions but perhaps it should. Disease doesn’t discriminate by race, but health and economic disparities put some groups at higher risk than others. And yet clinical trials fail to reflect the broad spectrum of patients that drug makers aim to treat.Racial disparities are evident in the COVID-19 pandemic, which is hitting the African American community hardest. Inequality has been thrust front and center following the death of George...
Tags: Deals, Startups, Cancer, Trends, Investing, Merck, Prostate Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's Disease, National, Epilepsy, Pfizer, Vaccine, Abbvie, Biotech, Novo Nordisk

Bio Roundup: ASCO Opens, Merck Takes On COVID, Evofem’s Approval & More

A year ago about 40,000 people gathered in Chicago for the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Today a virtual version of the ASCO conference, the cancer field’s largest, kicks off, with oncologists and others tuning in from throughout the country and around the world to check out the latest in cancer research.ASCO 2020 won’t be the Windy City gathering it usually is, but drug and diagnostics developers are still raring to share fresh data from their efforts in cancer i...
Tags: Startups, Ipo, Funding, Trends, Merck, Chicago, Alzheimer's Disease, Incubator, Stem Cells, Venture Capital, Machine Learning, Fda, National, Contraception, GlaxoSmithKline, Ai

Losing My Mom to Alzheimer’s, Then Finding Her Again

I wish someone had told me about the beauty that waited at the end of this journey.
Tags: News, Alzheimer's Disease, Families and Family Life

Coronavirus Presents New Obstacles For Families Impacted By Alzheimer’s

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The coronavirus pandemic has presented a new obstacle on an already difficult path for families impacted by Alzheimer’s. For them, the pandemic has stripped away a sense of security and has taken away what can be a best friend to someone living with the disease: the familiar. But there is hope. “I went through I would say a struggle in the beginning,” Carlos Olivas III told CBS13 about eight months ago, talking about the challenges of being a caregiver to his dad, Carlos Jr,...
Tags: News, Local, Seen On, Sacramento, Alzheimer's Disease, Northern California, Carlos, Alzheimer s Association, Carlos Jr, Coronavirus, Carlos Olivas III

Bio Roundup: Fast FDA Approvals, Biogen Delays, ORIC’s IPO & More

COVID-19’s spread has clamped down on a lot of economic activity, including the work of developing and testing new medicines. But the FDA isn’t showing signs of slowing down, at least when it comes to drugs filed for accelerated approval. The regulator signed off on three such drugs in the past week.These approvals are for cancers that have few, if any, treatment options. The FDA says it is committed to expediting the review of such drugs, even under COVID conditions. But can the agency keep up...
Tags: Startups, Ipo, Politico, Cancer, Trends, Vc, Alzheimer's Disease, Venture Capital, World Health Organization, Fda, National, Novartis, Biotech, Vaccines, Financing, National Venture Capital Association