Ironically, the first person to be diagnosed with what is now Alzheimer’s disease was missing its major risk factor. When she first began showing symptoms of dementia in 1901, Auguste Deter was not particularly old. Despite Deter’s case, aging is the largest risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s, by a large margin. But “geroscience has not been translated into drugs for Alzheimer’s disease,” Howard Fillit, Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation co-founder and chief scientific officer, told BioWorld. “We’re just starting to see that cross-fertilization now.”

After decades of trying and dozens of failed trials, amyloid targeting has paid off with the first disease-modifying agents reaching the market. But success does not mean slam dunk. Aduhelm (aducanumab, Biogen Inc.) was dogged by controversy throughout its brief tenure, and Biogen pulled the plug on it in early 2024. Leqembi (lecanemab, Biogen Inc.) has received full approval. In this second installment of a three-part series on Alzheimer’s, BioWorld looks at the nuanced view of amyloid’s role in the disease.

Ironically, the first person to be diagnosed with what is now Alzheimer’s disease was missing its major risk factor. When she first began showing symptoms of dementia in 1901, Auguste Deter was not particularly old. Despite Deter’s case, aging is the largest risk factor for developing Alzheimer’s, by a large margin. But “geroscience has not been translated into drugs for Alzheimer’s disease,” Howard Fillit, Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation co-founder and chief scientific officer, told BioWorld. “We’re just starting to see that cross-fertilization now.” This first article of a three-part BioWorld series on Alzheimer’s disease looks at how a group of researchers, as well as some startups, are trying to approach Alzheimer’s via an aging lens.

Neurocode USA Inc. added Alzpath Dx, a blood test for Alzheimer’s disease screening, to its lab developed tests, making it the first available for commercial use in the U.S. The move stands to make screening for the neurodegenerative disease much more accessible, as recent study results indicate Alzpath’s accuracy rivals PET scans and cerebrospinal fluid tests, the current gold standards, in detecting the signature biomarkers of the disease.

Shionogi & Co. Ltd. is partnering with Fronteo Inc. to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnostic tools to diagnose mental and neurological disorders more accurately.

Quibim SL recently launched its artificial intelligence (AI)-based software QP-Brain, which is designed to detect early-stage neurodegenerative diseases, after it received U.S. FDA 510(k) clearance, as well as CE and UKCA marks from the EU and U.K. regulators, respectively. QP-Brain quantifies and presents data from patients’ brain images to help clinicians with early diagnosis and treatment strategies for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis and dementia.

Sound Wave Innovation Co. Ltd. seeks patent protection for a method of using an ultrasonic device which transmits non-converging ultrasonic energy to the brain for the treatment of dementia, including mild Alzheimer’s-type dementia and mild cognitive impairment.