Elliot Goldstein, CEO of ProMIS Neurosciences, on moving the Alzheimer's goalposts

Treating the symptoms of Alzheimer’s is akin to painting the lines on a bridge that is collapsing, says Elliot Goldstein, chief executive of ProMIS Neurosciences (TSE: PMN), as his company prepares to present some of its research at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC).

The Canada-based biotech’s main focus is on developing precision therapeutics targeting strains of misfolded, neurotoxic prion forms of Amyloid beta (Aβ) and strains of the protein tau, which it sees as the root cause of Alzheimer’s, and Dr Goldstein has an end goal in mind.

“With Alzheimer's you can lose billions of neurons over 10 to 15 years,” he says. “The holy grail is to find the bad actor protein, diagnose which strain a patient has and pertinently administer vaccine products to knock it out before there are any symptoms."