Spinogenix has announced the recevial of a grant award by the National Institute of Health (NIH).  The grant award will fund research and development of a novel family of compounds to help restore the brain connections and functions lost in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and related neurodegenerative disorders.

AD is a degenerative brain disease and the most common cause of dementia – accounting for an estimated 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases. The Alzheimer’s Association 2018 Report estimates that there will be 5.7 million people with dementia in the United States in 2018 with an estimated 14 million new cases of dementia by 2050, equivalent to one person every 3.2 seconds. 

“Spinogenix is extremely pleased to receive this grant award which provides rigorous peer-reviewed validation of our innovative approach to tackle AD.  This funding will help us further develop our drug candidates and bring a promising new class of therapeutics to the marketplace to treat not only AD but also related diseases that involve a loss of dendritic spine synapses”, said Stella Sarraf, Ph.D., founder and acting chief executive officer.  

“Loss of dendritic spines is a major driver of cognitive decline in all neurodegenerative diseases as well as normal aging,” said Franz Hefti, chairman of the Board. “Spinogenix is targeting the loci of changes underlying memory formation.”

Currently, none of the available treatments for AD or other neurodegenerative diseases reverse synapse loss.  With the support of this NIH grant, Spinogenix aims to further develop a new class of neurorestorative therapeutics to help treat patients with AD.