New Anti-TNF Approach for Alzheimer's Disease

A radically new approach to Alzheimer's Disease treatment is detailed in a new U.S. patent which issued today. In U.S. patent 7214658, Edward Tobinick MD, Medical Director of the Institute for Neurological Research, a private medical group, inc. in Los Angeles, describes this novel approach which attacks excess TNF-alpha, a molecule which has been called the "master regulator" of the immune response.

Attacking excess TNF-alpha has proven to be a breakthrough for the treatment of a variety of diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, where TNF-alpha is known to be elevated. Since excess TNF-alpha has now been shown to be present in AD it makes eminent sense to investigate an anti-TNF approach for Alzheimer's Disease

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) May 8, 2007 -- Increasing scientific evidence supports a central role of TNF-alpha, the "master regulator" of the immune response(1), in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's Disease(AD)(2-9). TNF-alpha is thought to amplify brain inflammation, and, by so doing, to participate in the process whereby AD attacks thinking and memory)(2-17). Excess TNF-alpha has been demonstrated in AD, in both the cerebrospinal fluid(18) and the blood(19, 20).

New U.S. patent 7214658, issued today, describes a novel approach to AD. Rather than directly attacking amyloid, an approach which has frustrated scientists for decades, this new approach attacks excess TNF-alpha.

"Attacking excess TNF-alpha has proven to be a breakthrough for the treatment of a variety of diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, where TNF-alpha is known to be elevated. Since excess TNF-alpha has now been shown to be present in AD it makes eminent sense to investigate an anti-TNF approach for Alzheimer's Disease," stated Edward Tobinick, MD, the inventor of this new approach and Medical Director of the Institute for Neurological Research (INR), a private medical group, inc. in Los Angeles.

Dr. Tobinick's off-label anti-TNF approach is radically different from the existing FDA-approved treatments for AD, such as donepezil (Aricept®, Pfizer) and memantine (Namenda®, Forest Labs). It is widely acknowledged that neither Aricept nor Namenda can stop long-term AD deterioration. For this reason the medical community has been actively searching for better treatments.

The majority of the conventional experimental approaches to AD center on attacking amyloid, an approach supported by studies in mice. In humans, however, this approach has yet to be proven to be effective and is not without risk. The medical community is fully aware that use of a vaccine designed to reduce amyloid, produced jointly by Elan Corp. and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, was followed by the deaths of several of the clinical trial participants from severe brain inflammation (meningoencephalitis) when the amyloid vaccine was first tested in 2002.

In contrast, INR's anti-inflammatory approach utilizes a potent and selective biologic anti-TNF molecule. As of May 2007 the INR has accumulated more than two years of off-label clinical experience utilizing this anti-TNF approach, experience which the INR is eager to share with the NIH, other academic centers, and the research and pharmaceutical industries. The INR's clinical trial results utilizing this approach were first reported last year in a successful published, peer-reviewed human pilot study(3). "The scientific community has long recognized that inflammation of the brain is a component of Alzheimer's Disease. Now that a potent therapeutic molecule, that can potentially address this inflammation, is available for human use, it is urgent that study of the potential of this novel anti-TNF approach to help patients is funded and rapidly undertaken at the NIH. It is already little short of a tragedy that this has not yet occurred" the INR comments.

Michael J. Fox, in his May 7, 2007 keynote address to the BIO International Convention, urged the pharmaceutical industry and the research community to rapidly act to get new treatments to patients faster. "The tough truth is that the (drug development funding) system breaks down just where we need it the most, where risk is highest. How can we get this right?" he said. For a disease that affects five million patients in the U.S. alone, and for which currently available approved treatments are woefully inadequate, INR's innovative concepts merit intensive study.

About the INR

The INR has an active treatment program for patients with Alzheimer's Disease, dementia, and related disorders. Further information is available on the website of the INR, at www.nrimed.com.

The Institute for Neurological Research® (INR®), a private medical group, inc., is located at 100 UCLA Medical Plaza, Suites 205-210, Los Angeles, California 90095. The INR has pioneered new therapeutic approaches for several neurological disorders which involve inflammation. US patent 7214658 is the 12th U.S. patent involving the use of biotechnology-derived therapeutics for the treatment of neurologic or related disorders which has been issued to Dr. Tobinick. These U.S. patents include 6015557, 6177077, 6419934, 6419944, 6537549 and 6982089, several of which describe the use of selected anti-TNF therapeutics for AD. Anti-TNF therapeutics can have serious adverse effects; please see the website of their manufacturers for further information.

References attached

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