TauRx Alzheimer's Drug LMTX Fails in Large Study Although Some Benefit Seen

LMTX – Unsuccessful to Improve Cerebral/Functional Abilities – Alzheimer

In a late stage study, for an experimental Alzheimer’s drug called LMTX, by TauRX pharmaceuticals have concluded that it was unsuccessful to improve cerebral and functional abilities in patients suffering from slight to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

Amazingly, results at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto, revealed that in about 15 percent of experimental patients who were not administered other standard Alzheimer’s drug, showed a substantial benefit with regards to the drug.The co-founder of Singapore-based TauRX, Claude Wischik, who is also a professor of geriatric psychiatry at Aberdeen University, mentioned in a monotherapy group that, by 85 per cent the drug had reduced the amount of decline in cognitive and functional skills.

The findings were not only called ‘intriguing’, by Dr. Laurie Ryan, chief of the Dementia of Aging Branch at the National Institute on Aging, but also stated that the results do not reveal much at this point.On a whole, the study comprised of a total of 891 subjects, out of which, a figure of only 15 percent were not administered standard Alzheimer’s drug. In a telephone interview, Dr Laurie said that a small portion showed a benefit and that was the reason why they were unable to obtain result. 70.6 was said to be the mean age of the study.

Avoids Stamping in Brain of Abnormal Fibres – Protein Tau

The drug LMTX has been developed to avoid stamping in the brain of abnormal fibres connected with a protein known as tau. The development of plaques is said to happen much earlier than the development of tangles. Hence several scientists have been making attempts in the development of drugs in order to clear the brain of plaques according to Dr Ganesh Babulal, researcher in the department of neurology at Washington University in St. Louis.

Pharmaceutical companies like Biogen, Abbvie and Eli Lilly have started developing their own tau inhibitors though the field is yet in its initial stages compared to what had been done to study drugs intended at beta-amyloid. The results are primary from a large-scale experiment of a drug that aims ‘tau’, which is the Alzheimer’s-related protein.

It forms lethal tangles of nerve fibres related with fatal disease. With the help of existing treatments, Alzheimer’s symptoms can be improvised on, but no drug yet, has managed to show the slow progression of disease.

Many Companies Targeting Tau

Several companies, like Biogen, AbbVie and Eli Lilly, have started targeting tau itself, the protein linked with cell death, after many years of failed drug experiments in which, beta-amyloid, the Alzheimer’s protein which forms sticky plaques in the brain, was targeted.Although, the overall study goal was missed, Wischik remained hopeful.

He brought to light distinct analysis of brain scans which demonstrated a statistically substantial decrease in the rate of shrinkage of the brain, among the monotherapy patients who had been benefited, indicating that the drug slowed brain atrophy.Uncertainty persists, as to why the drug worked only in patients that were not receiving any other Alzheimer’s treatment.

Wischik commented that the firm is speculating on the same, but at the moment was unable to obtain an answer. TauRX has been researching LMTX in 800-patient trial on patients with mild Alzheimers’ where the aim is to prevent the progress of Alzheimer’s in patients taking LMTX and the outcome of it is anticipated later in the year