If Amyloid clearing worked it would in fact be worth billions.
The only reason we know that directly trying to eliminate AB plaques doesn't work is because it has been tried several different ways.
Until it was tried no one knew. Just like 2-73 and its upstream approach. Until it is tried no one knows.
What BP is doing with amyloid clearing is the end result of the consensus opinion of what causes AD. That consensus is changing because the attempts at clearing have been more successful than in the past and the result has not been what was hoped for. So now the research community is widening their research horizons.
Please understand that it is only recently that tests are being developed that can diagnose AD before it has significant behavioral impacts. As far as I know those tests are still not certified by FDA and are still in the development stage.
I am a troubleshooter in both software and hardware systems. I also spend time with Doctors talking about how they diagnose and what tools/tests they have available to them.
Doctors have a much more complicated system to deal with than I ever had and the tools they have to work with are considerably more limited than what I have to work with in determining a failure. I can substitute parts. I can rerun software systems. I can insert software diagnostic dumps at points where I think things are going wrong. Doctors have some pretty cool tools but those tools are nowhere nearly as comprehensive as what I have to work with. The tools Drs have are not real time, limited in scope and are trying to determine an issue that can present in many different ways.
Dealing with CNS diseases is even more difficult. Drs can't access the brain directly. They have little access to the chemistry/biological systems occurring in real time. Even determining what the normal biological interactions between cells at the molecular level is a real challenge. Then trying to understand where a complex feedback system is being disrupted is even more difficult.
Its not like the medical community isn't working hard at the problem. It is the problem is a very difficult problem to understand. A quick search of Clinicaltrials.gov for AD recruiting or active AD trials shows 708 trials. If you just search AD trials without filters Clinical trials lists 3031 trials.
So you are quite correct. EVERYTHING is a shot in the dark.
If investing was easy, everyone would be rich by now.
