Monday, October 15, 2012 5:27:56 AM
Drug firms walking away from dementia research
PM - By Emily Bourke
Posted 9 minutes ago
PHOTO: Elderly woman in a wheelchair Photo: For dementia
patients and their families, therapeutic developments have
been despairingly slow. (Reuters: Enrique Castro-Mendivil)
Related Story: Scientists trial curry chemical in dementia fight
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-04/researchers-trial-turmeric-compound-to-fight-dementia/4296494
Map: Australia - https://maps.google.com/?q=-26.000,134.500%28Australia%29&z=5
Some of Australia's leading experts on Alzheimer's disease say an alarming number of drug companies are abandoning research into treatments for dementia.
Despite huge advances in neuro-imaging and diagnostic techniques, there has been little progress when it comes treating the disease.
There are only a handful of drugs on the market in Australia and pharmaceutical companies cite the huge cost of research and drug trial failures.
Three of Australia's leading dementia experts have spoken out about a ballooning problem and a shrinking pool of solutions.
Professor of psychogeriatrics at the University of New South Wales, Henry Brodaty, said the financial dimension of dementia was sizeable.
"Globally, dementia costs $600 billion a year, and if it were a country it would be the world's 18th largest economy," he said.
"If it were... a company, it would be the biggest."
There have been huge strides in Alzheimer's research - from a century ago when the disease was first properly identified, to the discovery this year that the condition can begin 25 years before memory and thinking symptoms become evident.
But for dementia patients, their families and doctors, therapeutic developments have been despairingly slow.
But the science is making progress, according to Dr Bryce Vissel, who is the head of research into neural plasticity and regeneration at the Garvan Institute.
"Out of some of these unfortunate and expensive - and very, very expensive - failures in clinical trials in these new drugs, targeting the main cause of Alzheimer's has begun to emerge large bodies of groups of scientists who work together worldwide to analyse the data of these clinical trials in great detail," he said.
"Just very, very recently - in fact, this year - some analysis of those have suggested that there may be some reason that we can pool information out of those trials and see that in fact, there may be some hint that something is showing potential for benefit and that probably we shouldn't be giving up at this point."
Globally, dementia costs $600 billion a year and if it were a country, it would be the world's 18th largest economy.
Professor Henry Brodaty, from the UNSW
Giving up
But some drug companies are giving up.
Since August, three separate giants of the pharmaceutical industry have suspended advanced clinical drug trials because they showed no effect in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's.
Professor Brodaty says the drug trial failures have sparked questions about the very foundation of what is known about Alzheimer's while also raising questions about whether drug treatments need to start earlier.
"There are no disease-modifying drugs and that's where the whole field has been trying to find that Holy Grail," he said.
"Can we find a drug that can stop the disease?
"So far we have failed, and maybe earlier is better, that once the iceberg surfaces above the water it may be too late."
A year ago financial analysts were predicting the combined Alzheimer's drug markets of America, Europe, the UK and Japan would be worth $14 billion a year by the end of the decade, thanks to a new generation of medical treatments.
Trouble is, research and development in Alzheimer's requires a bottomless pit of funding.
Downward curve
Audio: Drug companies abandon dementia studies (PM)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-15/drug-companies-abandon-alzheimers-research/4314310
Dr Ian Musgrave, senior lecturer in pharmacology at the University of Adelaide, said it was a relentlessly downward curve.
"As of 2010, you will not get very much change from $1 billion if you spend $1 billion on developing a new drug," he said.
"For every drug that makes it through the regulatory hurdles into the marketplace, something like five drugs will fall by the wayside."
Drug companies are only throwing money at low-risk and profitable investments, he added.
"With the global recession, all drug companies are cutting back on the research arm, but its disproportionately coming from the central nervous system," he said.
"For example, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Merck, Novatis and GlaxoSmithKline are all significantly downsizing their neuroscience groups.
"And within the neuroscience groups, the areas that seem to be proportionally largest hit are the Alzheimer's departments."
For that reason, governments should be digging deeper, according to Dr Vissel.
"If you think that the cost of dementia is going to $83 billion by 2060, it seems to make some sense to put some money in dementia research," he said.
"At the moment we put in $24 million in Australia, but there's been calls for $250 million a year, which against the costs that we're going to be facing is somewhat insignificant."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-15/drug-companies-backing-away-from-dementia-research/4314394
========
Obama seeks $500 million to battle Alzheimer's
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
The Obama administration wants to spend just over half a billion dollars…
The Obama administration wants to spend just over half a billion dollars on Alzheimer's research next year, hoping to battle back against what could become the defining disease of the aging baby-boom generation.
Not all the spending must wait for approval from Congress: Under the plan being announced Tuesday, the National Institutes of Health will devote an extra $50 million to Alzheimer's research this year - opening the possibility that at least one stalled study of a possible therapy might get to start soon.
"The science of Alzheimer's disease has reached a very interesting juncture," with promising new findings to pursue after years of false starts, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins told The Associated Press. "We would love to be able to come up with a way of bringing forward an even larger amount of support."
The NIH currently spends $450 million a year on Alzheimer's research. In his budget proposal to be released next week, President Barack Obama will ask Congress for $80 million in new money for Alzheimer's research next year, Collins said.
The move is part of the administration's development of the first National Alzheimer's Plan, a congressionally-ordered strategy that will combine research toward better dementia treatments with steps to help overwhelmed families to better cope today. In addition to biomedical research, the administration said it will propose spending $26 million for other goals of the still-to-be-finalized plan, including caregiver support.
"We can't wait to act," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. "Reducing the burden of Alzheimer's disease on patients and their families is an urgent national priority."
Patient advocates long have said the nation's spending on Alzheimer's research is far too little considering the disease's coming toll. At a meeting last month some of the government's Alzheimer's advisers said it could take a research investment of as much as $2 billion a year to make a real impact.
"Our country cannot afford not to make these commitments," Alzheimer's Association President Harry Johns told that meeting.
More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's or related dementias, and, barring a medical breakthrough, that number is expected to more than double by 2050. Today, medical and nursing home bills for Alzheimer's total about $180 billion a year, a tab expected to reach $1 trillion.
For comparison, the government spends nearly $3 billion on AIDS research; about 1.1 million Americans are living with the AIDS virus.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Given the nation's fiscal problems, it's not clear what the
chances are in Congress for a boost in Alzheimer's funding.
But for this year, Collins said Alzheimer's is such a priority that the NIH will shift
some of its budget from other research areas to eke out an extra $50 million right away.
Among his examples: Some cutting-edge gene-mapping will be directed to concentrate on uncovering the genetics of Alzheimer's, including what protects the brains of some people in dementia-prone families. Collins also said he will determine whether the extra money is enough to start some clinical trials that otherwise would have to wait, including one to test whether an intranasal form of insulin might reach and protect the brain cells of people with early dementia symptoms.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-02-07/news/31035712_1_aids-research-biomedical-research-spending
See also:
zztops - 14 FRED charts outed .. [ two of ]
* Obama’s Excellent Results: U.S. Health Insurance Coverage Rate.
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/USHICCOVPCT?cid=32216
* Obama’s Excellent Results: Federal Financial Stress Index
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/STLFSI
* Obama’s Excellent Results: Real Disposable Income
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/DSPIC96
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=80528106
.. ha .. knew they would come in handy .. thanks again to zztops ..
PM - By Emily Bourke
Posted 9 minutes ago
PHOTO: Elderly woman in a wheelchair Photo: For dementia
patients and their families, therapeutic developments have
been despairingly slow. (Reuters: Enrique Castro-Mendivil)
Related Story: Scientists trial curry chemical in dementia fight
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-04/researchers-trial-turmeric-compound-to-fight-dementia/4296494
Map: Australia - https://maps.google.com/?q=-26.000,134.500%28Australia%29&z=5
Some of Australia's leading experts on Alzheimer's disease say an alarming number of drug companies are abandoning research into treatments for dementia.
Despite huge advances in neuro-imaging and diagnostic techniques, there has been little progress when it comes treating the disease.
There are only a handful of drugs on the market in Australia and pharmaceutical companies cite the huge cost of research and drug trial failures.
Three of Australia's leading dementia experts have spoken out about a ballooning problem and a shrinking pool of solutions.
Professor of psychogeriatrics at the University of New South Wales, Henry Brodaty, said the financial dimension of dementia was sizeable.
"Globally, dementia costs $600 billion a year, and if it were a country it would be the world's 18th largest economy," he said.
"If it were... a company, it would be the biggest."
There have been huge strides in Alzheimer's research - from a century ago when the disease was first properly identified, to the discovery this year that the condition can begin 25 years before memory and thinking symptoms become evident.
But for dementia patients, their families and doctors, therapeutic developments have been despairingly slow.
But the science is making progress, according to Dr Bryce Vissel, who is the head of research into neural plasticity and regeneration at the Garvan Institute.
"Out of some of these unfortunate and expensive - and very, very expensive - failures in clinical trials in these new drugs, targeting the main cause of Alzheimer's has begun to emerge large bodies of groups of scientists who work together worldwide to analyse the data of these clinical trials in great detail," he said.
"Just very, very recently - in fact, this year - some analysis of those have suggested that there may be some reason that we can pool information out of those trials and see that in fact, there may be some hint that something is showing potential for benefit and that probably we shouldn't be giving up at this point."
Globally, dementia costs $600 billion a year and if it were a country, it would be the world's 18th largest economy.
Professor Henry Brodaty, from the UNSW
Giving up
But some drug companies are giving up.
Since August, three separate giants of the pharmaceutical industry have suspended advanced clinical drug trials because they showed no effect in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's.
Professor Brodaty says the drug trial failures have sparked questions about the very foundation of what is known about Alzheimer's while also raising questions about whether drug treatments need to start earlier.
"There are no disease-modifying drugs and that's where the whole field has been trying to find that Holy Grail," he said.
"Can we find a drug that can stop the disease?
"So far we have failed, and maybe earlier is better, that once the iceberg surfaces above the water it may be too late."
A year ago financial analysts were predicting the combined Alzheimer's drug markets of America, Europe, the UK and Japan would be worth $14 billion a year by the end of the decade, thanks to a new generation of medical treatments.
Trouble is, research and development in Alzheimer's requires a bottomless pit of funding.
Downward curve
Audio: Drug companies abandon dementia studies (PM)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-15/drug-companies-abandon-alzheimers-research/4314310
Dr Ian Musgrave, senior lecturer in pharmacology at the University of Adelaide, said it was a relentlessly downward curve.
"As of 2010, you will not get very much change from $1 billion if you spend $1 billion on developing a new drug," he said.
"For every drug that makes it through the regulatory hurdles into the marketplace, something like five drugs will fall by the wayside."
Drug companies are only throwing money at low-risk and profitable investments, he added.
"With the global recession, all drug companies are cutting back on the research arm, but its disproportionately coming from the central nervous system," he said.
"For example, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Merck, Novatis and GlaxoSmithKline are all significantly downsizing their neuroscience groups.
"And within the neuroscience groups, the areas that seem to be proportionally largest hit are the Alzheimer's departments."
For that reason, governments should be digging deeper, according to Dr Vissel.
"If you think that the cost of dementia is going to $83 billion by 2060, it seems to make some sense to put some money in dementia research," he said.
"At the moment we put in $24 million in Australia, but there's been calls for $250 million a year, which against the costs that we're going to be facing is somewhat insignificant."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-15/drug-companies-backing-away-from-dementia-research/4314394
========
Obama seeks $500 million to battle Alzheimer's
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
The Obama administration wants to spend just over half a billion dollars…
The Obama administration wants to spend just over half a billion dollars on Alzheimer's research next year, hoping to battle back against what could become the defining disease of the aging baby-boom generation.
Not all the spending must wait for approval from Congress: Under the plan being announced Tuesday, the National Institutes of Health will devote an extra $50 million to Alzheimer's research this year - opening the possibility that at least one stalled study of a possible therapy might get to start soon.
"The science of Alzheimer's disease has reached a very interesting juncture," with promising new findings to pursue after years of false starts, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins told The Associated Press. "We would love to be able to come up with a way of bringing forward an even larger amount of support."
The NIH currently spends $450 million a year on Alzheimer's research. In his budget proposal to be released next week, President Barack Obama will ask Congress for $80 million in new money for Alzheimer's research next year, Collins said.
The move is part of the administration's development of the first National Alzheimer's Plan, a congressionally-ordered strategy that will combine research toward better dementia treatments with steps to help overwhelmed families to better cope today. In addition to biomedical research, the administration said it will propose spending $26 million for other goals of the still-to-be-finalized plan, including caregiver support.
"We can't wait to act," Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. "Reducing the burden of Alzheimer's disease on patients and their families is an urgent national priority."
Patient advocates long have said the nation's spending on Alzheimer's research is far too little considering the disease's coming toll. At a meeting last month some of the government's Alzheimer's advisers said it could take a research investment of as much as $2 billion a year to make a real impact.
"Our country cannot afford not to make these commitments," Alzheimer's Association President Harry Johns told that meeting.
More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's or related dementias, and, barring a medical breakthrough, that number is expected to more than double by 2050. Today, medical and nursing home bills for Alzheimer's total about $180 billion a year, a tab expected to reach $1 trillion.
For comparison, the government spends nearly $3 billion on AIDS research; about 1.1 million Americans are living with the AIDS virus.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Given the nation's fiscal problems, it's not clear what the
chances are in Congress for a boost in Alzheimer's funding.
But for this year, Collins said Alzheimer's is such a priority that the NIH will shift
some of its budget from other research areas to eke out an extra $50 million right away.
Among his examples: Some cutting-edge gene-mapping will be directed to concentrate on uncovering the genetics of Alzheimer's, including what protects the brains of some people in dementia-prone families. Collins also said he will determine whether the extra money is enough to start some clinical trials that otherwise would have to wait, including one to test whether an intranasal form of insulin might reach and protect the brain cells of people with early dementia symptoms.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-02-07/news/31035712_1_aids-research-biomedical-research-spending
See also:
zztops - 14 FRED charts outed .. [ two of ]
* Obama’s Excellent Results: U.S. Health Insurance Coverage Rate.
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/USHICCOVPCT?cid=32216
* Obama’s Excellent Results: Federal Financial Stress Index
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/STLFSI
* Obama’s Excellent Results: Real Disposable Income
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/DSPIC96
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=80528106
.. ha .. knew they would come in handy .. thanks again to zztops ..
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