The drugs don't work

• Autores: Jacqui Wise
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 3169, 2018, págs. 26-27
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Alzheimer's disease is back in the news, with last week's announcement that the annual Brain prize has been awarded for work on the genetic and molecular basis of the illness. In giving the E1 million prize to four researchers in the UK, Germany and Belgium, Denmark's Lundbeck Foundation is likely to rekindle hopes of a cure being within reach. However, translating the work -- much of it in animals -- into drugs remains as frustratingly out of reach as ever. Again and again, there has been feverish media excitement over a potential cure. A drug that looks promising in mice leads to overblown headlines, yet when it reaches phase III studies in humans the results disappoint. The G7 countries had set a target of finding a disease-modifying Alzheimer's treatment by 2025. Sadly, this is looking unlikely. Honoring the hard work on this illness with the Brain prize is great -- just don't expect rapid breakthroughs