WE STRIVE TO PREVENT AND CURE DEMENTIA

For decades, Eisai has led the way in dementia research and development. Now we’re broadening our scope, taking a multi-dimensional, targeted path to our ultimate goal: prevention and a cure. Here’s a quick look at what we’re working on right now.

HERE’S OUR PRECISION APPROACH TO ACCELERATING NEUROLOGY ADVANCES

Building on 30 years of researching and understanding dementia, we’re striving to prevent and cure dementia and AD. Our precision approach to drug discovery research includes:

  1. Human biology: We're leveraging recent genetics research to explore using immunology to regulate processes and mechanisms in certain neurologic conditions.
  2. Translational sciences: By focusing on translational biomarker research early in the discovery process, our scientists can quickly identify which patients might respond to certain therapies.
  3. Collaboration-based research: We’re sharing our own research and working in partnerships with other experts to accelerate drug discovery and development.
  4. Diagnostics: We’re collaborating with other experts to develop and commercialize simple, cost-effective tools that can easily and accurately help health care professionals screen and diagnose AD.
Blood Test for Alzheimer

A BLOOD TEST FOR ALZHEIMER’S?

We’re collaborating with Sysmex on a potential blood-based test for predicting amyloid pathology. This automated immune-assay system under investigation could also be utilized as a simpler and more cost-effective method to identify participants for clinical trials exploring a variety of AD therapies now in development.



Alzheimer’s disease: global impact, pathophysiology, and the evolving clinical care

Alzheimer’s disease is a growing global health challenge and has an enormous impact on patients and family members, healthcare systems and society at large. In the three videos below, Dr. Harald Hampel, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of the Neurology Business Group, and a global expert in Alzheimer’s Disease discusses the global impact of dementia due to Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, he presents existing multi-disciplinary evidence that supports the role of the amyloid-β pathway in Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology and therapy development. Finally, he provides future perspectives on Alzheimer’s disease research and clinical care.



The prevalence of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases is rising rapidly worldwide with increases in population aging and growth. Here, Dr. Hampel summarizes the current and projected epidemiology of dementia, as well as the associated societal and economic cost both at the global level and in Japan as a country-specific example.



Impairment of amyloid-β (Aβ) metabolism and consequent accumulation of Aβ aggregation species in the brain is an early and central event in Alzheimer’s disease pathophysiology. Here, Dr. Hampel discusses biological and clinical evidence linking alteration of the Aβ cycle to Alzheimer’s disease progression across the preclinical, prodromal, and dementia stages.



In this video, Dr. Hampel discusses the road ahead in Alzheimer’s science and clinical diagnosis and management of the disease. Highlighting the AT(N) framework, he presents the steps toward precision medicine and delivers an overview of recent advances in biomarker development — in particular, blood and digital biomarkers for globally accessible and sustainable solutions to Alzheimer’s disease healthcare.



Learn from leading AD experts about the A/T/N system and how it may shape clinical practice and therapy development

Discover the A/T/N system – a biomarker-based classification system that classifies individuals using core AD pathophysiological features: amyloid-β(A), tau (T) and neurodegeneration (N). Presented at the 2020 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), the three presentations provide a state-of-the-art overview on the validation and qualification of the A/T/N system and its evolution to A/T/N/x for AD clinical practice and therapy development.

“The A/T/N system offers a framework to define Alzheimer’s disease in a continuum using biologically rooted measurements. It circumvents the limitations of the traditional, clinical phenotype-based approach, and has the potential to facilitate therapeutic interventions at the early stages of the disease.”

Harald Hampel
Chief Medical Officer
Neurology Business Group



Dr. Jeffrey Cummings provides an overview of the conceptual framework and significance of the A/T/N system.



Dr. Clifford Jack describes the history of the A/T/N system and discusses its potential contexts-of-use in clinical trials and clinical care.



Dr. Kaj Blennow provides a state-of-the-art and perspectives on the development of CSF and blood biomarkers of the A/T/N system.