Pfizer will also host an analyst briefing at ICAD to review its neuroscience pipeline and platform on Monday, July 28. In addition, Pfizer will sponsor a satellite symposium, “Innovative Approaches to Alzheimer's Disease: Developing the Next Generation of Treatment,” on Tuesday, July 29.
“With the expected huge increase in the incidence of Alzheimer's disease worldwide in the next 25 years, Pfizer's neuroscience team has made this devastating illness our highest priority,” said Dr. Liam Ratcliffe, senior vice president and development head for Pfizer Neuroscience. “With new insights into the underlying causes of Alzheimer's discovered in only the past few years, our scientists are working to develop new medicines that improve memory and other cognitive function, and importantly halt or significantly slow the progression of the disease. We are also working on approaches that could lead to earlier and better diagnosis.”
Pfizer's investigational compounds target multiple pathways to combat AD, beta amyloid, the harmful protein that builds up in the brains of AD patients; amyloid plaques, the sticky deposits made of beta amyloid fragments that impair the function of brain cells; chronic inflammation of neurons, and loss of function across the synapses (or gaps) between neurons.
Data from Pfizer to be presented at the meeting include:
·Receptor for Advanced Glycation End-products (RAGE) Antagonist: Pfizer is in collaboration with TransTech Pharma to develop and commercialize a portfolio of RAGE modulators. RAGE is a cell-surface receptor that may play a key role in multiple aspects of AD. Targeting RAGE for Alzheimer's is a novel approach and Pfizer is pioneering this approach in the clinic.
o Initial Phase II data on the safety and tolerability of Pfizer's oral RAGE antagonist known as PF-04494700 will be presented by Dr. Marwan Sabbagh, FAAN, director of The Cleo Roberts Center of Clinical Research at the Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City, AZ, on Wednesday, July 30th at 12:30 p.m. CST.
o Preclinical data on the effect of PF-04494700 on chronic inflammation and buildup of amyloid plaques - two abnormal processes that are implicated in causing damage and death to brain cells in AD - will also be presented by Dr. Jeffrey Webster of TransTech Pharma on Monday, July 28th at 12:30 p.m. CST.
·Humanized Anti-Amyloid Monoclonal Antibody: Preclinical data on the effect of PF-04360365, Pfizer's investigational monoclonal antibody in Phase 1 trials, on beta amyloid levels in the brains of mice will be presented by Dr. Thomas Lanz, Senior Scientist at Pfizer, on Monday, July 28th at 12:30 p.m. CST. Monoclonal antibodies are designed to selectively target a specific protein, which, in the case of AD, is beta amyloid.
Additional Preclinical Research: Pfizer will also present data on a potential blood biomarker that could help in identifying patients with AD; two studies on the role of the brain's immune system in the formation of amyloid plaques; a potential method of using novel imaging and microscopic analysis to quantify AD neuropathology, and early research on an additional investigational Pfizer compound on the inhibition of an enzyme in the brain.
Pfizer South Africa
Solly Mabotha
Pfizer Public Relations Manager
www.pfizer.com
