Over the past decade we’ve seen failure after failure in clinical trials for neurodegenerative disease. Despite over 200 clinical trials, we still don’t have any meaningful therapeutics for Alzheimer’s.
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Clinical research in this field has been stuck in a rut for several years, with the vast majority of trials focused on a single, unproven hypothesis. A unifying feature of neurodegeneration is the accumulation of sticky protein deposits within the brain, such as alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s or amyloid-beta and tau in Alzheimer’s. Pharma companies have spent many years and billions of dollars attempting to reduce the quantity of these protein deposits.
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Progress in this field depends upon finding new therapeutic targets with a more solid scientific rationale – and in 2020, we will see some exciting breakthroughs. One area where progress is being made is by studying inflammation within the brain.
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Selectively editing and controlling this side of the immune response has the potential to significantly reduce chronic and inappropriate neuroinflammation, potentially providing a potent new therapy. In 2020, we’ll very likely see the first early pre-clinical demonstrations ushering in a new era that offers hope to millions of patients across an increasingly ageing population.
