The new research found that an existing skin-cancer drug called bexarotene cleared the protein in the brains of stricken mice within days. ❋ Gautam Naik (2012)
He set his sights on bexarotene, an orally administered drug known to activate a protein that helps switch on the ApoE gene. ❋ Gautam Naik (2012)
Dr. Landreth and a study co-author, Paige Cramer, are founding scientists of ReXceptor Inc., which has licensing options from Case Western to use bexarotene to treat Alzheimer's disease. ❋ Gautam Naik (2012)
Sam Gandy, a neurology professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and associate director of its Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, said he wasn't surprised to get inquiries from patients about bexarotene, as they also often ask for off-label use of another treatment on the market, intravenous immunoglobulin, which costs about $50,000 a year and is given in time-consuming infusions. ❋ Shirley S. Wang (2012)
Patents on bexarotene will start to expire this year, and once a generic is available, doctors could prescribe that less-expensive version off-label, undercutting the commercial prospects. ❋ Shirley S. Wang (2012)
Last week, a paper in the journal Science showed that skin-cancer drug bexarotene improved brain function in mice bred with Alzheimer's disease. ❋ Amy Dockser Marcus (2012)
Ms. Vear wants to try her father on bexarotene, though she does have concerns about possible side effects. ❋ Shirley S. Wang (2012)
Drug makers might be deterred from making the heavy investment in researching an Alzheimer's use for bexarotene. ❋ Shirley S. Wang (2012)
But experts caution that more research is needed to determine whether the drug, bexarotene, is effective in humans at all, not to mention what the dosage should be. ❋ Shirley S. Wang (2012)
Because bexarotene is known to be safe for treating skin cancer, "it might be worth trying in Alzheimer's patients as well," said Rada Koldamova, a neuroscientist who works on Alzheimer's at the University of Pittsburgh and wasn't involved in the study. ❋ Gautam Naik (2012)
In the U.S., bexarotene is sold under the name Targretin, which is owned and marketed by Japan's Eisai Co. Patents on the drug—and hence its profitability—will start to expire this year, one reason drug companies may be reluctant to jump on bexarotene as a possible Alzheimer's treatment. ❋ Gautam Naik (2012)
Randi Stummer, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, isn't ready to ask a doctor to put her 72-year-old mother on the medicine, but she is worried enough about her mother's memory issues that she wants to find out more about bexarotene and would be willing to consider putting her in a clinical trial. ❋ Shirley S. Wang (2012)
They explained bexarotene, normally used to shrink tumours, worked by stimulating levels of a protein that carries cholesterol around the brain, called Apolipoprotein E ApoE. ❋ Stephen Adams (2012)
But neuroscientists at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, found bexarotene attacked what doctors call the pathology of the disease - its biological causes. ❋ Stephen Adams (2012)
"We're really lucky that bexarotene is a great drug with an acceptable safety profile," he said. ❋ Unknown (2012)
Pathology tests on the mice showed bexarotene lowered the levels of amyloid beta and raised the levels of apolipoprotein E, which helps keep amyloid beta levels low. ❋ Unknown (2012)
In the study, researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine gave mice mega-doses of bexarotene, a drug used to treat a type of skin cancer called cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. ❋ Unknown (2012)
Carrillo said one of the major advantages of bexarotene is that it's already been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in humans, which means the researchers can move into human trials sooner than if it were a completely new drug. ❋ Unknown (2012)
Landreth said his lab had been working on other drugs for Alzheimer's for 10 years when a graduate student, Paige Cramer, decided to try bexarotene, which works on a receptor involved in amyloid beta clearance. ❋ Unknown (2012)
The Alzheimer's Foundation is funding Case Western's next phase of research, which will involve using bexarotene at the levels used on cancer patients, Landreth said. ❋ Unknown (2012)
