Empowered Patient Podcast Tolerable Oral Alzheimer’s Medication to Manage Symptoms Slow Progression with Michael McFadden Alpha Cognition
Michael McFadden is the CEO of Alpha Cognition, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for brain diseases such as Alzheimer's, ALS, and traumatic brain injury. Their drug ZUNVEYL, recently approved by the FDA, is an oral treatment for mild to moderate Alzheimer's that improves symptoms such as memory loss, mental processing speed, and mood changes. A key feature of the drug is fewer gastrointestinal side effects compared to other Alzheimer's drugs coming onto the market.
Michael explains, "ZUNVEYL is a class of medications known as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. It’s the second oral compound approved by the FDA to treat Alzheimer’s disease in the last decade. So, it is a momentous accomplishment by our company, and it is an accomplishment that will serve patients and physicians well. It’s designed to treat symptoms of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease that many patients suffer from. These are things like memory loss, mental health processing speed, ability to solve problems or remember short-term and long-term things. Also, it affects or allows patients to manage changes in mood or personality that often accompany Alzheimer’s disease. So, these are drugs that are used very commonly to treat Alzheimer’s disease. We think this drug will have a lot of utility in helping patients and offering physicians a new choice."
"About 55% of patients who take a drug for Alzheimer’s disease will have some side effect that’s so significant they have to stop taking their medicine. So side effects are a primary reason that patients cannot stay on their therapy. The side effects that are most common are GI-related side effects, GI side effects, diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. We are excited about our compound because we believe if you can’t tolerate a medicine, the medicine certainly can’t be efficacious for the patients."
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