New Alzheimer’s drug could hit market soon

A Shanghai-based pharmaceutical company is seeking authorization to market an innovative drug that treats mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

Called GV-971, the drug has completed clinical trials and is the first multi-targeting, carbohydrate-based drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, according to a news release on Tuesday from Green Valley, one of the drug’s co-developers.

As Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by the aggregation of amyloid-beta peptides — a short chain of amino acids — current research on possible cures mostly concentrate on developing antibodies that target sites for the peptides.

However, GV971 — a sugarbased molecule extracted from brown algae — can bind to multiple amyloid-beta peptide regions and inhibit its aggregation, the company said.

The drug also showed no toxic side effects during the 36-week third phase clinical trials.

Green Valley said the company plans to submit the marketing authorization application to the China National Drug Administration later this year.

First discovered by Ocean University of China in January 1997, GV-971 was further developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, along with Green Valley. Insiders said that the drug is expected to lead a new wave of carbohydrate-based drug development.

Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic degenerative disorder characterized by a progressive loss of cognitive function in the brain. According to Alzheimer’s Disease International, there are approximately 48 million patients with Alzheimer’s disease in the world today, with the number expected to reach 130 million by 2050 due to longer life spans.