Australia developing new Alzheimer’s treatments 20 May 2010 The newly-established Australian biotech, BACE Therapeutics, has received funding from the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF) to develop new treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. The funding is to develop drugs that block the enzyme, beta secretase, which appears to be directly involved in the early development of Alzheimer’s disease. The BACE Therapeutics investment and research program builds on the findings of Dr. Brian Smith, from Melbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, who discovered two compounds that bind beta secretase (also called BACE1). Dr Smith said that being able to block this enzyme would hopefully also block progression of the disease. Although therapies exist that temporarily ease the symptoms of Alzheimer’s there is a need for treatments that slow or stop its progression. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia in the elderly, affects 18 million people worldwide. The market for Alzheimer’s therapeutics is growing at around 13 per cent each year and is expected to be worth $7.2 billion in 2010. The announcement of the founding of BACE Therapeutics coincides with the 2010 BIO International Convention in Chicago. BACE Therapeutics is the culmination of a collaboration between the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria, and the University of Melbourne. More information |