Amid a mix of controversy and clinical progress, the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2021 kicked off July 26 in Denver and online, delivering both new clinical data and insights into a key form of dementia affecting as many as 35 million people worldwide and growing. While interest in Biogen Inc.'s recently approved Aduhelm (aducanumab) remained high, new data on investigational therapies from Synaptogenix Inc. and Inmune Bio Inc. also drew attention, weighing on shares of both companies. New epidemiological research also revealed the first evidence that reducing air pollution may improve cognitive function and reduce dementia risk.
It was a trifecta to remember for Neurotrope Inc. on Wednesday as the company cast revealing light on a seemingly failed clinical program involving its lead candidate, had the NIH offer a grant to create a phase II trial to explore the program’s strengths, and then found institutional investors and individuals to pony up an $18 million registered direct offering for the company’s securities. It was a re-examination of data that resurrected Neurotrope’s hopes for its lead candidate months after a confirmatory phase II of bryostatin-1 failed to outperform a placebo in people with moderately severe to severe Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the absence of Namenda (memantine, Allergan plc), an NMDA receptor antagonist.