Anavex Life Sciences has published a preprint of its Phase IIb/III trial of oral blarcamesine, presenting a precision-medicine approach in Alzheimer’s disease, according to the company. The publication is hosted on medRxiv and is under submission to a peer-reviewed journal.
The company claims that up to ~70% of participants in the defined genetic population showed benefit using the novel therapy. Among outcomes reported were improvements in self-assessed quality of life (QoL-AD), which the company said suggest a reversal of the negative clinical trajectory. The mechanism of action is described as enhancing the brain’s autophagy (a cellular clearing process), which the company says could address both medical and economic burdens of Alzheimer’s disease.
Anavex noted that blarcamesine is a once-daily oral small molecule with a favorable safety profile that does not require routine MRI monitoring. The company said it will continue to evaluate and publish data from its early Alzheimer’s and ATTENTION-AD trials, and plans presentations at international Alzheimer’s conferences.
While the results are promising, the company cautions that the data involve investigational uses and do not constitute final conclusions about efficacy or safety. There is no guarantee the therapy will complete clinical development or receive regulatory approval.
