Disappointing progress in Alzheimer's disease therapeutics

The USA-based Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) released a new report, The State of Innovation in Highly Prevalent Chronic Diseases Volume IV: Alzheimer’s Disease Therapeutics, the fourth in a series on the innovation landscape of highly prevalent, chronic diseases.

This volume takes an in-depth look at the state of innovation for therapeutics in Alzheimer’s disease, which is expected to affect more than 13.8 million people in the United States by 2050 and cost well over $1 trillion annually.

”The growing health and financial impact of Alzheimer’s disease on American patients, caregivers, and our healthcare system makes the need for new treatments more pressing each day,” said BIO president and chief executive Jim Greenwood, adding: “The good news is that America’s biopharmaceutical companies currently are conducting 74 clinical-stage programs intended to stop, prevent, or slow the progression of this looming crisis. The bad news is that, while these programs hold real promise, the R&D challenges with this disease are enormous and the level of investment and innovation is not where our nation needs it to be to address this exploding public health crisis. To win this fight, it is essential that our public policies stimulate more investment in research and innovation.”