A little over a week after announcing that the Evoke and Evoke+ studies failed to show that oral semaglutide could slow cognition decline in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, investors and researchers got the first look at the actual data from the studies, which were presented at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease 2025 meeting.

Vandria SA published phase I data on a potential new mechanism of action in treating Alzheimer’s disease, demonstrating its orally available and brain-penetrant mitochondria-boosting compound, VNA-318, engages its intended target.

Novo Nordisk A/S’ wild card bet that its GLP-1 receptor agonist semaglutide could be used to treat Alzheimer’s disease has not paid off, with the company reporting two phase III trials have shown no effect on slowing disease progression.

Akeso Inc. has received clearance from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to initiate clinical trials with AK-152 for Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers from the Baylor College of Medicine have characterized 100 conserved Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk orthologue genes in Drosophila and found several with unknown roles in brain structure, function and stress resilience. The implication of this finding is that new pathways of neurodegeneration have been revealed, offering new insights into the genetic complexity of AD.

Medical Microinstruments Inc., reported the U.S. FDA approval of an investigational device exemption for a study using its Symani surgical system for treating Alzheimer’s disease, one of its earliest forays into the brain.

In Alzheimer’s disease, microglia act as a double-edged sword. They can either protect the brain or worsen the damage, depending on their activation state. Inflammatory activation harms healthy neurons. However, a study reveals that a special type of microglia expressing specific receptors and behaving like T cells may help mitigate this neurodegenerative condition.

Australian scientists have developed a simpler, less invasive way to detect Alzheimer’s disease that could make it easier for patients to access emerging disease-modifying therapies. Researchers from Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation have identified blood-based biomarker tests capable of confirming amyloid plaque in the brain with accuracy comparable to the current gold standards using positron emission tomography scans and lumbar punctures.

Maplight Therapeutics Inc.’s pricing of a $258.9 million financing this week revived the debate over whether targeting the M1 as well as the M4 muscarinic receptor – as Bristol Myers Squibb Co. does with U.S. FDA-approved Cobenfy (xanomeline and trospium chloride) for schizophrenia – is a better strategy than going after M4 alone.