- More than 5.3 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer’s disease, which has no effective cure or substantial treatment
- India Globalization Capital’s IGC-ADI drug candidate targets proteins associated with the buildup of lesions in the brain
- The company acquired exclusive rights to a patent, based on University of South Florida studies supporting THC’s role in inhibiting Aβ plaque production
Alzheimer’s disease now affects over 5.3 million people in the United States, imposing an estimated economic cost of $236 billion. There has been no effective treatment to slow down or reverse its effects. That may be about to change, as India Globalization Capital, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IGC) launched a press release (http://nnw.fm/Dxc49) detailing its work on a drug candidate, IGC-ADI, that targets the buildup of lesions in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s. Given that the number of cases is expected to double over the next two decades, a lack of a cure or other mitigating therapy is concerning. However, the company expects to soon begin trials that may yield promising new treatments.
The unconventional nature of this drug candidate is that it is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-based. Low doses of THC have been found to inhibit amyloid beta peptide (Aβ plaque) production. This protein is believed to cause plaque to form in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Phosphorylated Tau proteins make up another type of lesion, called a neurofibrillary tangle, that is also linked to AD. The Aβ proteins normally cleared away by biological processes are unregulated in Alzheimer’s patients, and therefore build up into insoluble fibroles. The result is the formation of senile plaques and extracellular misfolded oligomers that are thought to be toxic to nerve cells in the brain.
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