Metabolic Solutions Development Company (MSDC) announced today that it has received a $100,000 grant from the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) to support the evaluation of PPAR-sparing insulin sensitizers as a potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease.
ADDF funding will support a collaboration between Dr. Douglas Feinstein (Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and University of Illinois at Chicago) and MSDC. Feinstein's research focuses on neurodegenerative diseases while MSDC is developing novel treatments for type 2 diabetes and related metabolic diseases.
"Initial findings in our ongoing research suggest that some insulin sensitizers, including MSDC's lead compound MSDC-0160, currently in Phase II studies for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, might slow down the buildup of plaques in the brains of mice," said Feinstein. "These mice are engineered to develop plaques similar to those found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's. Positive results from these studies would encourage further investigation of MSDC-0160 in the treatment of Alzheimer's."
Initial findings were presented at the 10th Annual International Conference on Alzheimer's Drug Discovery (www.alzdiscovery.org) in Jersey City, N.J. and demonstrated that a one-month treatment of MSDC-0160 can reduce both the number and size of the amyloid plaques in mice. Ongoing studies are evaluating whether the compound can improve the cognitive deficits in the Alzheimer's mouse model.
"We are very enthusiastic about the potential of MSDC's compound for Alzheimer's disease," said Howard Fillit, MD, ADDF's executive director. "Our relationship is another demonstration that venture philanthropy funds can provide a critical catalyst for innovative drug discovery research conducted by biotechnology companies such as MSDC."