ST. LOUIS, and WILMINGTON, Del., April 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the
pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) have announced a research
collaboration that aims to develop new and improved ways to diagnose and
treat Alzheimer's disease.
The major focus of the alliance will be biomarkers, characteristic
changes in the brain and spinal fluid, that physicians can use to diagnose
Alzheimer's disease and track its response to treatment. "Alzheimer's
disease is already a huge public health problem that is increasing
exponentially," says David M. Holtzman, M.D., the Andrew B. and Gretchen P.
Jones Professor and chair of the Department of Neurology at the School of
Medicine, and neurologist-in-chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. "To prevent
this disease with new treatments that are currently on the horizon, we need
better ways to diagnose the disease before people become cognitively
impaired. We are pleased to be collaborating with AstraZeneca on this
important initiative."
"AstraZeneca is focused on transforming cutting edge science into
meaningful medicines. Collaborating with Washington University gives us
access to world-class expertise in the area of Alzheimer's disease and
allows us to explore together potential new ways to help patients suffering
from this terrible disease," says Bob Holland, Vice President for
Neuroscience at AstraZeneca.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common form of dementia and affects as
many as 5 million Americans(1). Little is known about what causes
Alzheimer's disease or how it progresses in patients, and the condition has
always been difficult for physicians to definitively diagnose. In addition,
studies by Washington University and others have shown that by the time
patients begin to suffer obvious symptoms of dementia, Alzheimer's has
already caused extensive and largely irreversible damage to the brain.
These factors have made identification of biomarkers that allow earlier and
more definite diagnosis of the disease a top priority for research.
The new research projects created by the Washington University and
AstraZeneca collaborative agreement will include an effort to better
understand the connections between Alzheimer's disease and a class of
central nervous system compounds called tau proteins. These proteins help
maintain the inner structures of nerve cells. Evidence suggests they
undergo a chemical change in Alzheimer's patients, disrupting their ability
to maintain nerve cell structure. This leads the tau proteins to snarl in
tangles inside the cell that cause the cell to die. Researchers hope to
identify changes in tau proteins present in the spinal fluid that they can
add to a panel of indicators of Alzheimer's disease.
Other projects will include looking for new genetic markers linked to
Alzheimer's disease risk and testing potential Alzheimer's treatments
developed by AstraZeneca scientists in models used for Alzheimer's research
by University faculty.
"Scientists from both organizations are very interested in finding new
ways to diagnose and treat Alzheimer's," says Holtzman. "We believe that
combining the world-class expertise and facilities that are found at
AstraZeneca and Washington University will help us reach those goals more
quickly than either institution could alone."
This new alliance with Washington University is one of several new
alliances by AstraZeneca with leading academic and research institutions to
address unmet medical needs through cutting-edge research across several
disease areas, including Alzheimer's disease, chronic pain and psychiatric
illnesses. These proposed new agreements complement existing AstraZeneca
alliances in neuroscience and other key therapeutic areas with world-class
institutions.
About Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University School of Medicine's 2,100 employed and volunteer
faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St.
Louis Children's hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading
medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation,
currently ranked third in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. The
university has been a pioneering contributor to Alzheimer's disease
research for more than three decades. Scientists at the Alzheimer's Disease
Research Center pioneered the first technique for assessing dementia in the
elderly. The Clinical Dementia Rating is now the standard tool worldwide
for detecting Alzheimer's disease and assessing its clinical progression.
To aid the development of new treatments, the university is currently at
the forefront of the race to understand the biological and genetic causes
of Alzheimer's. To allow patients to receive those treatments before
Alzheimer's wreaks irreparable brain damage, Washington University
scientists are also leading the hunt for ways to detect Alzheimer's disease
before the onset of clinical dementia. The faculty includes multiple
winners of the highest honors in Alzheimer's research, including the
Potamkin Prize for Research in Pick's, Alzheimer's, and Related Diseases
and the MetLife Foundation Award for Medical Research in Alzheimer's
disease.
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the
research, development, manufacturing and marketing of meaningful
prescription medicines and supplier for healthcare services. AstraZeneca is
one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales
of $29.55 billion and is a leader in gastrointestinal, cardiovascular,
neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infectious disease medicines. In
the United States, AstraZeneca is a $13.35 billion dollar healthcare
business with 12,200 employees committed to improving people's lives.
AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as
well as the FTSE4Good Index.
For more information about AstraZeneca, please visit:
http://www.astrazeneca-us.com
(1) The Alzheimer's Association, What is Alzheimer's,
http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp, accessed
March 6, 2008.
SOURCE AstraZeneca
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Related links:
http://www.astrazeneca-us.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/985887.html/
CONTACT:
Jamie Smith of AstraZeneca, +1-302-885-5725,
Jamie.Smith@AstraZeneca.com; Joni Westerhouse of Washington
University St. Louis, +1-314-286-0120, westerhousej@wustl.edu
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