Protecting Nerve Cells in the Fight Against Alzheimer's Disease: Dr. Maria Maccecchini

In an interview with PharmExec , Annovis Bio's Maria L. Maccecchini discusses her investigations into shielding nerve cells in the brain and in the body as a treatment for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. Annovis Bio makes a drug that combats neurodegeneration by enhancing axonal transport, the "information highway" of the nerve cell. "Axonal transport is the process by which nerve cells transfer substances between the cell body and the synapse," Maccecchini explains. "When the axonal transport system is not working properly, nerve cells can die, resulting in disease." Currently undergoing Phase II trials, the ANVS401 drug was originally designed to block production of the myloid precursor protein. "Additional research showed that the therapy actually inhibits the synthesis of all neurotoxic proteins; the ones that make plaque, which are amyloid, the ones that make tangles, which are tau, and the ones that make Lewy bodies, which are alpha-synuclein," Maccecchini says. "We are targeting multiple neurotoxic proteins with a single drug with a single target." The drug was found to improve the speed, coordination, and overall motor skill functions in people with Parkinson's disease following 25 days of treatment, while a current study on Alzheimer's patients will hopefully indicate that it improves their cognitive abilities.