Japan opts for drug repurposing to stop dementia

Via drug repositioning, a team of scientists at the Osaka City University in Japan has created a combination of rifampicin and resveratrol and shown in mouse models that the nasal administration improves cognitive function without the negative liver side effects of rifampicin alone. The development of a fixed-dose combination of rifampicin and resveratrol nasal spray is currently being carried out by Medilabo RFP, a venture company originating from the research team’s laboratory. Recent studies have shown that abnormalities begin to appear in the brains of dementia patients more than 20 years before the onset of the disease. By investigating new therapeutic purposes with existing drugs in a process called drug repositioning, the research team hopes to diagnose and prevent dementia before the neurons start dying.