Market Need
Overview
Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease therapeutics are a multi-billion dollar business. The combined direct and indirect costs of these neurodegenerative diseases are estimated to reach $818 billion in 20151.
Alzheimer's Disease
- 18 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The World Health Organization has predicted that this number may double by 2025
- Current drugs only treat symptoms
- No disease modifying drugs are available
Parkinson's Disease
- 5 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
- Current drugs only treat symptoms
- No disease modifying drugs are available
About Parkinson's and Alzheimer's
Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease are progressive, chronic, degenerative neurological disorders that attack neurons in the brain resulting, ultimately, in death over a period of 2 to 20 years. Parkinson's disease results in motor symptoms and cognitive impairment, ranging from mild memory difficulties to dementia and mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety. Alzheimer's disease results in loss of memory, impairment of cognitive and language skills, and behavioral changes. There is currently no cure for these diseases, only treatments that provide temporary alleviation of symptoms.
In Alzheimer's disease, two types of abnormal lesions (aggregates) clog the brain of the affected patient. One of the aggregates, beta-amyloid plaques, form outside and around neurons; the second, neurofibrillary tangles, form insoluble twisted fibers composed largely of Tau proteins that build up inside nerve cells.
In Parkinson's disease, build up of a-synuclein fibrils (aggregates) lead to impairment of cognitive ability in the affected patient. These aggregates occur inside brain cells and form Lewy bodies which inhibit normal cell function.
1. Alzheimer's Disease International - World Alzheimer's Report 2015