Aβ is a main component of amyloid plaques and with increasing age and other factors, can lead to Aβ aggregation that plays a central role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Here, Dr. Dennis J. Selkoe provides an introduction and overview of the Aβ pathway.
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:
- Human biology: We're leveraging recent genetics research to explore using immunology to regulate processes and mechanisms in certain neurologic conditions.
- 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.
- Collaboration-based research: We’re sharing our own research and working in partnerships with other experts to accelerate drug discovery and development.
- 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.
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.
Evolving Insights from Thought Leaders on Existing Knowledge and Gaps of the Aβ Pathway
The presence of amyloid-β (Aβ), a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), continues to show a strong scientific rationale as a leading therapeutic target as one of the earliest alterations in the AD continuum. Thus, emphasizing the Aβ pathway may be significant to move towards the next-generation clinical care pathway. Presented at the 16th International Conference on Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s Diseases (AD/PD 2022), four AD experts describe the Aβ Pathway, amyloid species and their associated toxicities, and clinical implications for disease etiology, diagnosis, and treatment development.
“Aβ accumulation functions as the upstream mechanism of AD and may be therapeutically targeted before manifestation of neurodegeneration and the subsequently resulting cognitive decline.”
Dr. Harald Hampel
Chief Medical Officer
Neurology Business Group
Learn from leading experts about the next-generation clinical care pathway for Alzheimer’s disease
As the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) treatment landscape evolves, it is critical to transform the AD patient journey from the current symptom-based approach to a next-generation biomarker-guided and technology-enabled clinical care pathway. Presented at the 2021 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), four leading AD experts discussed the latest advances and challenges in the integration of biomarkers and emerging digital tools into the larger healthcare ecosystem for AD.
“Biomarkers and digital technologies have matured to a point of plausible implementation in clinical care for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. It is critically important to move towards the next-generation biomarker-guided and digital technology-enabled clinical care pathway that allows for early detection and early intervention. We must work together to re-engineer and optimize health care systems to deliver new types of assessment and care, while ensuring that patient and caregiver perspectives remain central when implementing the next-generation clinical care pathway for patients with Alzheimer’s disease.”
Dr. Harald Hampel
Chief Medical Officer
Neurology Business Group
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.
Learn from leading AD experts about the AT(N) system and how it may shape clinical practice and therapy development
Discover the AT(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 AT(N) system and its evolution to ATX(N) for AD clinical practice and therapy development.
“The AT(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