Free Republic

NEW YORK — Pfizer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson said Monday they are ending development of an intravenous formulation of a drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease after the treatment failed in two late-stage clinical trials. The companies said bapineuzumab intravenous did not work better than placebo in two late-stage trials in patients who had mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. The drug is designed to prevent the buildup of plaque in the brain. J&J said it is not discontinuing development of the compound and noted it has ongoing studies including a mid-stage neuroimaging study with bapineuzumab delivered subcutaneously...

As a top adviser in a multinational financial services company, Susan Grant 59, was used to effortlessly juggling numbers, client details and other complex information in her head. So when she found her thoughts so muddled she couldn't remember if she needed to take the interstate north or south to drive home, she knew something was wrong. “I'd find myself talking to clients and unable to think of a word,” she recalled. “So I'd stop in the middle of a sentence — and then I couldn't remember the sentence itself.” A series of medical tests resulted in six diagnoses —...

AP MEDICAL WRITER WASHINGTON -- Scientists have discovered molecular janitors that clear away a sticky gunk blamed for Alzheimer's disease - until they get old and quit sweeping up. The finding helps explain why Alzheimer's is a disease of aging. More importantly, it suggests a new weapon: drugs that give nature's cleanup crews a boost. "It's a whole new way of thinking in the Alzheimer's field," said Dr. Andrew Dillin, a biologist at California's Salk Institute for Biological Studies who led the new research. The discovery, published Thursday by the journal Science, was made in a tiny roundworm called C....