The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) announced that it has awarded a grant of $240,000 to AgeneBio Inc. to develop a new class of small-molecules that have promise in treating amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a neurological condition that often progresses to Alzheimer’s disease and affects more than 3 million aging Americans. Approximately fifteen percent of aMCI patients progress to an Alzheimer’s disease (AD) diagnosis every year.

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A recent study used the xCELLigence System of Roche to investigate the response of the neuronal-like cell line HT-22 and cultured primary rat cortical neurons to different cell death stimuli and neuroprotectants. The xCELLigence System provides a non-invasive and label-free way to continuously monitor cellular parameters such as viability, death, adhesion, and proliferation. It records electrical impedance of cells grown on microelectrode arrays integrated into the bottom of each well of an E-Plate 96.

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A team of Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) physicians has made an important new discovery linking the central nervous system to the onset and progression of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The team presents evidence from a prospective clinical trial that vascular compression of a section of the brain called the medulla oblongata is a factor in some patients with type 2 diabetes and that microvascular decompression surgery (MVD) may be an effective treatment for the condition.

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The Georgia Institute of Technology has received a EUREKA grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to design a new way to treat invasive brain tumors by capturing the migrating cells that spread the disease. The research team plans to develop a system that will excavate brain tumor cells by directing them away from their location in the interior of the brain to a more external location where they can be removed or killed.

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Edge Therapeutics, Inc. has announced that it has entered into a feasibility agreement with SurModics, Inc. According to the agreement, SurModics will develop a novel biodegradable, site-specific, sustained-release formulation (NimoGel™, EG-1961) for treatment of delayed complications of ruptured brain aneurysms or traumatic brain injury (TBI). NimoGel, Edge’s lead drug, is a combination of the FDA-approved drug nimodipine, a calcium channel blocker, and a proprietary biodegradable delivery system.

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ArmaGen Technologies has developed the BBB molecular Trojan horse platform technology for solving the BBB drug delivery problem, and has used this technology to create a brain penetrating form of human EPO. ArmaGen® has successfully re-engineered human EPO as an IgG fusion protein that penetrates the brain following intravenous (IV) administration. Human EPO is fused to a genetically engineered monoclonal antibody (MAb) to the human insulin receptor (HIR).

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A US company is close to receiving the approval for a new scanning and dye procedure, which could revolutionise the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s. Philadelphia-based Avid Radiopharmaceuticals has been working for the past few years on a new dye designed to highlight in a PET scan the tell-tale plaque deposits associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

CytRx Corporation has announced that its drug candidate bafetinib (formerly known as INNO-406) demonstrated statistically significant inhibition of glioblastoma multiforme cell lines in a preclinical trial. Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common and aggressive primary adult brain tumor. Data from the trial, titled “Preclinical evaluation of Lyn kinase inhibition for treatment of glioblastoma multiforme,” will be presented in a poster at the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

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Virtual Radiologic Corporation has completed the deployment of vRad® PACS, its proprietary picture communications and archiving system for radiologic case processing. Replacing previously used commercial software, vRad PACS is now being used by all of the Company’s 140 affiliated radiologists to perform clinical interpretations on radiologic cases transmitted in real-time from over 7,400 different image sending devices located at more than 1,150 medical facilities across the United States.

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Toshiba’s Aquilion® ONE dynamic volume CT system has the ability to improve the quality of life for patients with neurological symptoms, by reducing diagnosis time to minutes. Highlighting these capabilities, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. featured the Aquilion ONE at this year’s Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting. The Aquilion ONE allows physicians to reduce diagnosis time for life-threatening conditions such as a stroke from hours or days to minutes.