Scientists receive $4.6M grant to study FDA-approved drug for Alzheimer’s Disease

The National Institute of Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) awarded five-year grants of $3.2 million and $1.4 million, respectively, to scientists from Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health to study the therapeutic potential of the anti-cancer drug lenalidomide in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

The funding will support the project “Repurposing Lenalidomide for Early Alzheimer’s Treatment” led by Marwan Sabbagh, M.D., and Boris Decourt, Ph.D., of the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health

The project is comprised of two complementary clinical studies aimed at identifying whether lenalidomide reduces inflammation and other disease-related neuropathological features, and improves cognition in those living with mild cognitive impairment.

Enthusiasm to study lenalidomide stems from the strategy to target multiple Alzheimer’s disease neuropathologies at once, a relatively new approach in Alzheimer’s disease drug development.

Lenalidomide is one of few multi-purpose agents, which has demonstrated several effects on the immune system in cancer patients.

Source: Reuters