ExhonHit to apply biomarker platform in Alzheimer’s study

04 Nov 2009 | News

Collaboration

ExonHit Therapeutics is joining forces with Toulouse University Hospital and  the Institut de Recherche Pierre Fabre (IRPF) in the Multi-domain Alzheimer Preventive Trial (MAPT).

The study’s main objective is to assess the efficacy of nutrition, physical exercise, and cognitive stimulation intervention along with an omega-3 treatment in preventing the decline of cognitive function in aged and frail individuals.

“We are going to apply our validated AclarusDxTM diagnostic platform to the study samples in order to identify early blood biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease,” said Loïc Maurel, President of the Management Board of ExonHit Therapeutics. Such biomarkers are expected to be valuable for developing drugs against the disease.

The clinical study, which includes several memory centres in France, is led by Bruno Vellas, Head of the Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Research Centre and of the Gérontopôle, Toulouse University Hospital.

“Early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, before signs of dementia appear, and taking action at a very early stage is key to improved patient care,” Vellas said.

Over the course of three years, 1,200 frail individuals, of both sexes and aged 70 or over, will be monitored. During this period, the status of their cognitive functions and of their functional capacity will be assessed in order to identify the ones who evolve towards dementia, in particular Alzheimer’s disease, and to evaluate the value of the preventative measures being tested.

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