Brain disorders
MCI due to Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for 60-80% of all dementia cases. It is a progressive disease and will worsen over time. People with Alzheimer’s disease will experience symptoms such as memory loss and language problems. As the disease progresses, neuronal damage in the brain occurs and basic bodily functions such as walking and swallowing are affected and people become bed bound and require around-the-clock care.
Key market figures early Alzheimer’s Dementia
11 million people in Europe and US live with early Alzheimer’s dementia
Doubled Alzheimer’s population by 2050
Major cause of disability and dependency among older people
US$ 948 billion estimated global annual cost of dementia
No treatment for AD and early cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s
The number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s dementia is on the rise. Roughly 16 Mio people in the US and EU today are living today with Alzheimer’s dementia. The aging of the population in general, population growth, and the increasing incidence of dementia is to double these numbers by 2050. This represents a significantly burden on our healthcare systems, as dementia is one of the costliest conditions to society. The total estimated worldwide costs of dementia were estimated to be US$948 billion in 2017. About 70% of the costs occurred in western Europe and North America.
Alzheimer’s Disease Continuum
The disease continuum consists of three phases:
- preclinical Alzheimer’s disease
- mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease (MCI due to AD) and
- dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, divided in 3 stages; mild, moderate and severe.
MCI is considered to be the borderland between cognitive changes of ageing and very early dementia. Prevalence is estimated to be between 15-20% in persons >60 yr. Among those with MCI aged >65, about 15% develop dementia within two years.
About one-third (32%) of individuals with MCI develop Alzheimer’s dementia within five years’ follow-up.
There are no treatment options available for MCI patients. Prescribers and patients welcome more effective and longer-lasting symptomatic treatments. Particularly they seek treatments which effectively delay disease progression and treatments which significantly improve cognitive outcomes, the core deficit of AD.
Arega Medical has a PDE4 inhibitor in late-stage phase 2 development. Inhibition of type 4 phosphodiesterase PDE4 has emerged as a promising therapeutic approach to treat cognitive deficits*.
*Prickaerts J, Heckman PRA, Blokland A. Investigational phosphodiesterase inhibitors in phase I and phase II clinical trials for Alzheimers disease. Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs, 26:9, 1033-1048
Ischemic Stroke
Based on global estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO), stroke is the second-leading cause of death and the third-leading cause of disability. In Europe and US stroke is the leading cause of adult disability.
Key market figures early Ischemic Stroke
2 million people hit by stroke every year.
>16 million people live with post-stroke disability
1st leading cause of adult disability.
7.1 million DALYs* lost
€110 billion stroke associated annual cost in Europe and US
2nd Cause of death in Western World
No treatment to prevent post-stroke disability
*Disability-adjusted life years
Ischemic stroke, in which blood flow to the brain is blocked by a thrombus or embolus, represents circa 85% of all stroke cases. It is estimated that the combined prevalence in Europe and US of ischemic stroke increases up to 20 million in 2047 .
Only 50% of people living with the consequences of stroke function independently after 6 months and half of all people living with stroke go to nursing homes and rehabilitation centers after hospital discharge.
In Europe 7.1 million DALYs (Disability Adjusted Life Years) are lost due to ischemic stroke.
Arega Medical has a repurposed triple therapy, a precision medicine project from the network pharmacology concept, in late stage phase 2 development for ischemic stroke patients.