NeuroAge Therapeutics

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Lilly stops work on Tau drug after phase 2 lack of efficacy, remains committed to Tau therapies in general "Eli Lilly has thinned its pipeline in two critical therapeutic areas, axing clinical-phase Alzheimer’s disease and obesity candidates as part of its quarterly clear-out. The removal of ceperognastat, Lilly’s oral O-GlcNAcase anti-tau agent, from the pipeline comes months after the candidate failed (PDF) to slow clinical decline in early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease patients in a phase 2 trial. At the time, Daniel Skovronsky, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer at "Lilly, spotlighted biomarker data that suggested “potential impacts on tau pathology, brain volume and neuro-inflammation.” Lilly initially kept ceperognastat in its pipeline as it carried out safety follow-ups. With the phase 2 trial set to end this month, Lilly axed the candidate in its fourth-quarter update. Lilly linked the molecule to a 50% reduction of tau pathology and a 40% reduction in brain atrophy in preclinical studies but failed to translate those benefits into humans. The news is another blow to Lilly’s work on tau. In 2021, ceperognastat moved into phase 2 testing just as Lilly was removing another tau drug candidate, zagotenemab, from its pipeline. Last summer, when the company disclosed ceperognastat’s midphase miss, Skovronsky said Lilly remained committed to tau “as a high conviction target."" https://lnkd.in/gqhVqZhh

Do you want to know how old your brain is biologically? You can find out by playing NeuroGames for free for the next two weeks. They will go behind a paywall on Feb 15th. Play at https://lnkd.in/gSF8_M56. Brain aging is about 40% lifestyle. NeuroAge Therapeutics gives clients personalized lifestyle recommendations based on biomarkers, genetics, game performance, and brain MRI to optimize their brain health.

This is super exciting! We are moving in the direction of having "statins for dementia", preventing onset instead of treating when it's already very late. "The first participants have been enrolled in a groundbreaking Alzheimer’s trial that aims to intervene in the disease decades before symptoms arise, rather than attempting to slow disease progression after cognitive decline has begun. Led by Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, the trial is investigating whether an investigational antibody developed by Eli Lilly can prevent the accumulation of amyloid beta plaques in the brains of young adults at high genetic risk for the disease. The trial is recruiting participants as young as 18, carrying genetic mutations that all but guarantee the development of early-onset Alzheimer’s. These mutations cause the disease to manifest in a person’s 30s, 40s or 50s, but the earliest molecular changes – particularly the accumulation of amyloid beta – begin up to 25 years before symptoms appear. By targeting these plaques in individuals who have no cognitive impairment and little to no detectable amyloid in their brains, researchers hope to interrupt the disease process at its very origin."

I have spent some time this week looking into food storage and cookware that is micro-plastic free. Apparently silicone ice cube trays don't leach micro-plastics and I found some glass storage jars with bamboo lids. I am considering giving up my Nalgene water bottle for something glass or steel. The potential link between micro-plastics and dementia is somewhat alarming to me. "even greater accumulation of MNPs was observed in a cohort of decedent brains with documented dementia diagnosis, with notable deposition in cerebrovascular walls and immune cells. These results highlight a critical need to better understand the routes of exposure, uptake and clearance pathways and potential health consequences of plastics in human tissues, particularly in the brain."

Investing in the global race to develop healthspan therapeutics "Jorge Conde, a general partner at venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health. a16z has long been at the forefront of investing in healthspan-focused companies, and last year led a star-studded funding round in consumer health platform Function. We caught up with him as part of the research for the 2025 Hevolution Global Healthspan Report to find out more about what’s making investors tick when it comes to healthspan. As someone with his finger firmly on the pulse of the healthspan field, Conde is bullish about the investment opportunities it presents. He hails the “tremendous progress” that has already been made across various approaches to addressing morbidity, fueling a growing ambition across the healthcare industry. “GLP-1s are a prime example of this progress,” he says. “They attack such an intractable problem – first by overcoming a major barrier to improving human health and second, by offering a solution that has far-reaching societal impacts across the globe. Their success underscores the potential for breakthroughs in other transformative areas within the healthspan space.”" https://lnkd.in/gfaTV_X9

Fill out the Sunday survey (https://lnkd.in/gcB7tve2) and get up to a 40% discount on the NeuroAge Test for brain aging (https://lnkd.in/g7DbqAt5).

Exercise releases "plant food" for your brain What we know about exercise and BDNF We all know that exercise is good for the body. It keeps our muscles toned and our hearts strong. But why is exercise good for the brain? When we exercise our neurons release a protein called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF). The metabolite β-hydroxybutyrate, which increases after prolonged exercise, causes more BDNF to be produced. BDNF helps neurons to sprout new connections (synaptogenesis) and new neurons to be born (neurogenesis). Having more healthy neurons improves memory, makes us sharper overall, and is associated with less risk of neurodegenerative diseases. BDNF is also a potent anti-depressant, which may explain why exercise is so good for improving mood. What type of exercise releases the most BDNF? A recent meta-analysis of young healthy adults who had BDNF measured in their blood before and after exercise showed that high intensity exercise raised BDNF levels more than low intensity exercise... Read more: https://lnkd.in/gw89kTNh #longevity #bdnf #exercise #brain

Excited to be speaking at MBC BioLabs Founders at work series on February 20th over lunch! Hope to see some folks there.

Do you want to know how old your brain is biologically? You can find out by playing NeuroGames for free for the next two weeks. They will go behind a paywall on Feb 15th. Play at https://lnkd.in/gSF8_M56. Brain aging is about 40% lifestyle. NeuroAge Therapeutics gives clients personalized lifestyle recommendations based on biomarkers, genetics, game performance, and brain MRI to optimize their brain health.