BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product Development

Parsing the Dimebon spike

July 27, 2009 7:00 AM UTC

Elevated beta amyloid is generally believed to be one of the causal mechanisms in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. Thus it was surprising when data presented at this month's International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease in Vienna showed that Dimebon latrepirdine from Medivation Inc. caused an acute increase in beta amyloid production in a transgenic mouse model of AD.

It is not known why this occurred, but one possibility is that the compound's effect on neurotransmitter receptors may cause a transient increase in beta amyloid production. Ultimately, of course, clinical results in humans will be proof of the pudding, and the company is aiming to have Phase III data in 1H10...