Quest Diagnostics played a pivotal role in new Alzheimer’s therapy.
According to diagnostic insights gained from the largest database of clinical lab results in the world, doctors anticipate a revolution in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease facilitated by cutting-edge testing methods.
Quest Diagnostics Inc. (NYSE:DGX) Forum, in its report, the Coming Alzheimer’s Disease Healthcare Revolution: US Physician and Adult Perspectives on the Future of Diagnostics and Treatment, published earlier this week, gave some understanding into the expectations and hopes of primary care physicians and American adults for the current and prospective landscape of dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease testing, treatment, and care.
According to the report by Quest Diagnostics, the majority of doctors (66%) think that revolutionary new Alzheimer’s Disease treatments are just around the corner. Blood testing for the early identification of Alzheimer’s risk, according to 87% of doctors, will increasingly be considered the standard of care. In addition, 91% of respondents believe that such tests will revolutionize how medical professionals identify the condition, and 81% think they will revolutionize how Alzheimer’s is monitored over time.
Quest Diagnostics’ Neurology Medical Director, Michael K. Racke, MD, further elaborated on these findings by stating that although a new generation of treatments for Alzheimer’s disease is on the horizon, the crucial role of diagnostics has been left out of the discussion.
As a part of Quest Diagnostics, he said “Patients today are typically screened for Alzheimer’s disease only after signs of cognitive impairment emerge and often by expensive methods, such as brain imaging and cerebrospinal fluid taps, which only specialists can perform. As new, efficacious therapies come to the forefront, the need for scalable, less invasive, and more cost-effective diagnostics, including in primary care settings, will grow.”
On the Canadian side of the industry, Alpha Cognition Inc. (TSX-V:ACOG, Forum), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, Canada’s version of Quest Diagnostics and impacting people with Alzheimer’s and ALS, recently released financial results for Q4 and the full year of 2021. The company is on a mission to create novel therapies with the potential to improve the lives of patients with such debilitating neurodegenerative disorders.
The ALPHA-1062 (galantamine benzoate) prodrug, a delayed-release oral tablet of Mild to Moderate Dementia of the Alzheimer’s Type, was one recent program advancement that the team highlighted. To show bioequivalence to the FDA-designated reference-listed medication necessary for marketing authorization, Alpha Cognition has started pivotal trials. Trials are being conducted under both fed and fasted settings using a single dose, cross-over study design. The business intends to release the study’s topline findings in Q2 2022.
In order to discuss the continuing clinical testing of ALPHA-1062 as well as a planned Alzheimer’s disease tolerability and dosage trial that would allow for adjustments to the prescribing information after approval, Alpha Cognition plans to meet with the FDA. The plan would be to begin this trial in late Q2 2022, with top-line results anticipated in 2023, subject to regulatory comment.
Both Quest Diagnostics and Alpha Cognition both continue to work in helping piece together potential new treatments for patients with neurodegenerative diseases.
About Quest Diagnostics (NYSE:DGX) and Alpha Cognition Inc. (TSX-V:ACOG)
“Quest Diagnostics is an American clinical laboratory. A Fortune 500 company, Quest operates in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Brazil. Quest also maintains collaborative agreements with various hospitals and clinics across the globe,” (Wikipedia).
As stated by Alpha Cognition, “Alpha Cognition is a clinical stage, biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing treatments for under-served neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Dementia and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
ALPHA-1062, a patented new chemical entity that has demonstrated safety and improved tolerability in human clinical trials. It is being developed as a new acetylcholine esterase inhibitor for the treatment of dementia of the Alzheimer’s type, with minimal gastrointestinal side-effects and novel routes of administration.
ALPHA-0602 is a gene therapy program delivering progranulin, a neurotrophic protein. It is in preclinical development for the treatment of ALS. ALPHA-0602 is patented and has received Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA.
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