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September 21st: World Alzheimer's Day around the world
MADRID, Spain and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 21, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oryzon Genomics, its scientists and staff want today to join the international chorus of voices to raise awareness of this disease that affects millions of people. Dementia affects over 50 million people worldwide, stealing patients slowly but progressively their memories, skills and behavioural awareness. While there are over 100 forms of dementia, the most common is Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) accounting for 50-60% of all dementia cases. Scientists in academy and industry are fighting tenaciously to bring a cure to AD patients and give hope to their families. There are 105 agents in the AD treatment clinical development pipeline, of which 25 agents are in 29 trials in Phase I, 52 agents are in 68 trials in Phase II, and 28 agents are in 42 trials in Phase III (Cummings et al 2017 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trci.2017.05.002). ORYZON is contributing to this global effort with two ongoing clinical trials in AD with its proprietary drug, Vafidemstat: a Phase IIa in mild-moderate AD patients (ETHERAL study) to assess its safety and effects in cognition, behavior and biomarkers, and a second Phase IIa that includes one arm to assess reduction of aggressiveness in advanced AD patients (REIMAGINE study). To help us bring our AD drugs forward, we work together with some of the best world scientists in the AD field that help us in our Scientific Advisory Board or participating in our clinical trials: Dr. Mercè Boada Founder and Medical Director of the ACE Foundation. Catalan Institut of Neurociències. Since 1996, she has been a principal investigator of more than 110 clinical trials on new treatments for Alzheimer's disease and other related dementias. “One of the most valuable learnings I have from my professional career is that there is nothing more persistent than an Alzheimer’s researcher. The fact that science has never surrendered leads me to being confident that we will find a cure. We are all committed to make Alzheimer’s history.” Professor Harald Hampel, MD, PhD, AXA Research Fund & Sorbonne University Excellence Chair, Department of Neurology, Sorbonne University, Paris. Speaker of the Alzheimer Precision Medicine Initiative (APMI) “It is time for a paradigm shift towards the implementation of precision medicine using supportive pathophysiological biological markers for enhanced risk screening, detection, patient recruitment and treatment of Alzheimer's disease”. “The biomarker-guided ETHERAL trial is bringing us one step closer to realizing the potential of a precision medicine and precision pharmacology approach to treating this devastating disease.” Dr. José Luis Molinuevo Scientific Director of the Barcelonabeta Brain Research Center of the Pasqual Maragall Fundation. Spanish coordinator of the BIOMARKAPD of the Joint Programming on Neurodegenerative Diseases and part of the International Working Group and the NIA-AA groups for developing new research criteria. “The Alzheimer’s scientific community is moving towards a double paradigm change. On one hand, the advent of biomarkers has allowed us to redefine Alzheimer’s disease, which now can be identified in vivo through biomarkers that are proxies of pathology. On the other, improved trials design, including also biomarkers to decrease heterogeneity and new statistical approaches, are allowing us to test new pathways in a more efficient way. We all work together for defeating Alzheimers disease.“ Dr. Howard Fillit Founding Executive Director and Chief Science Officer at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. Clinical professor of geriatric medicine and palliative care, medicine and neurosciences at The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. “After almost four decades of basic research, now is the time to translate this new knowledge into novel drugs for Alzheimer's. There are many novel mechanisms currently under clinical investigation, including neuroinflammation, neuroprotection, neuronal energetics, and epigenetics. Additionally, with new biomarkers and other advances, we are conducting more rigorous and efficient trials. As these new molecules move through clinical development, I am hopeful that some will succeed as potential new drugs for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's disease.” About Oryzon Founded in 2000 in Barcelona, Spain, Oryzon (ISIN Code: ES0167733015) is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company considered as the European champion in Epigenetics. The company has one of the strongest portfolios in the field. Oryzon’s LSD1 program has rendered two compounds in clinical trials. In addition, Oryzon has ongoing programs for developing inhibitors against other epigenetic targets. The company has a strong technological platform for biomarker identification and performs biomarker and target validation for a variety of malignant and neurodegenerative diseases. The company has offices in Spain and USA. For more information, visit www.oryzon.com. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
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