Lilly (LLY) Alzheimer's Test Approved by FDA

A much-anticipated test developed by Eli Lilly, LLY , that detects the presence of proteins in the brain that are related to Alzheimer's disease was approved Friday by the Food and Drug Administration.

The tool could enable clinicians to detect Alzheimer's earlier and more accurately in patients at the earliest sign of memory problems—a potential boon to treatment and developing drugs against the disease.

The test uses a chemical called florbetapir, known by the brand name Amyvid, which is a radioactive agent that tags clumps of a sticky substance called an amyloid. Amyloid proteins are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. The chemical, which costs $1,600 per dose, then is detected using a brain imaging technique called positron emission tomography, known as PET scans.
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Proteome Sciences Up Big On Alzheimer's Test

Proteome Sciences (LON:PRM) is up big today on the markets after announcing success in its project to develop better diagnostic tools for Alzheimer’s disease.

The Company announced that in collaboration with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health and Merck Millipore, the completion of the large, 1,000 sample Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) biomarker validation study. Preliminary results indicate that these biomarkers have significant potential diagnostic and prognostic utility that could form the basis of a series of simple blood tests for the diagnosis and management of this debilitating disease.

All American Investor

Cancer Drug Erases Alzheimer's Symptoms in Days

Neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have made a dramatic breakthrough in their efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. The drug in question, Bexarotene has been approved for the treatment of cancer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for more than a decade.

Alzheimer's Reading Room 

Gary Landreth

In the study described below, the cancer drug Bexarotene quickly and dramatically improved brain function and social ability and restored the sense of smell in mice bred with a form of Alzheimer's disease. 

Imagine this.

Within hours of taking the drug, amyloid plaques began to clear out of the mice’s brains. After three days, more than 50 percent of the Alzheimer’s plaques had disappeared, and the mice regained some of the cognitive and memory functions typically lost in Alzheimer's disease.