Projects in the Therapeutic Strategies category identify and evaluate potential therapies for Alzheimer’s disease such as drugs or other interventions.
Highly promising research is taking place in the University of California, San Diego, lab of Steven Wagner, Ph.D., and the Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital lab of Rudy Tanzi, Ph.D. Their approach has been to develop drugs that modulate an enzyme called gamma secretase, which is a critical contributor to Abeta production. Their effort has been so successful that the compounds they developed have been adopted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of its fast-track, high-priority “Blueprint” program. Tanzi and Wagner now have two viable clinical candidates that will soon be entering clinical trials.