Alzheimer's and Parkinson's charities identify new ways to reuse current drugs
Scientists are to examine whether drugs that are already in use could be repurposed to treat the symptoms of both Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's in a new collaboration which aims to discover novel treatments at pace.
Experts say that by repurposing drugs, they can 'increase the shots on target' at tackling the diseases.
This method of drug development could also reduce the time patients are left waiting for new treatments by up to 10 years, they added.
It comes after the NHS spending watchdog rejected the use of new Alzheimer's drugs lecanemab and donanemab for widespread use in the health service.
The drugs were approved for use in the UK last year by the UK's medicines regulator but the NHS spending watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), said they could not be used in the NHS because the benefits are 'too small' to justify the cost.
Now charities Cure Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Research UK have joined forces to find current drugs that may tackle some of the common biology behind both diseases.
https://x.com/AlzResearchUK/status/1929856926885539966/photo/2
After presentations to the International Linked Clinical Trials (iLCT), which was set up by Cure Parkinson's over a decade ago, experts from both fields will select the most promising drugs for both Parkinson's and dementia, so they can be moved quickly into clinical trials.
Weight loss jabs are already being investigated for their effectiveness in treating symptoms of both diseases and experts hope to uncover more drugs that can have multiple uses.
Semaglutide, the active ingredient for weight loss and diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, is being examined in clinical trials to see whether it can help patients with Alzheimer's disease or Parkinson's.
Trial results for the Alzheimer's trial are expected to be published later this year.
Dr Sheona Scales, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, told the PA news agency that the iLCT project had already been 'hugely successful' with people who have Parkinson's, adding: 'Around 30% of disease modifying therapies that are in clinical trials for Parkinson's disease came through this process.
'What we wanted to do is to build on their knowledge and experience and expertise in order to be able to bring a process similar to that to Alzheimer's disease.'
Dr Scales said that there are some 'common grounds' between Parkinson's and Alzheimer's – both are neurodegenerative diseases and have some 'common biological processes' – such as inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction and 'protein misfolding' – which could be targets for repurposed drugs.
'Getting multiple drugs that are targeting the disease is really important to us,' she said.
'Testing different types of drugs and getting as many shots on target is important.'
She said: 'Repurposed drugs have already been demonstrated to be safe for use in humans development of new drugs for different diseases is a long process.
'What essentially bringing repurposed drugs does, is help to accelerate the drug development pipeline – it could save between five and 10 years within that process, compared to taking a new drug through clinical trials for the very first time.'
Helen Matthews, chief executive of Cure Parkinson's, said the iLCT was originally set up to identify drugs that can potentially 'slow down, stop or reverse Parkinson's'.
She added: 'It was through this programme that we realised that there were so many drugs that were also being looked at in the dementia field and there were commonalities there in terms of the drugs looking to reduce inflammation, or whatever it might be, there were specific pathways that those drugs were working on that could be beneficial for both disease areas.
'So given that we were already doing the (work) every year, it made sense to join forces in this way, just to add efficiencies.
'Because if you're looking at the same drugs, we'll only do that digging once, you know, only do that compilation of the dossiers once, so that you can actually take the learning for both diseases and then actually look and see which might be beneficial.'
She said that the 'sharing of knowledge and digging' could also be shared with other disease areas, such as MS.
And on lecanemab and donanemab, Dr Scales added: '(These) were the first disease-targeting therapies that have been licensed in the UK, but obviously are not available on the NHS at the moment.
'They showed for the very first time that we were able to alter the course of the disease.
'And what we're looking forward to now is what the next generation of treatments can bring us and how we can target different parts of the disease.'
Dr Lucy Devendra, head of research at Alzheimer's Society, said: 'Repurposing medicines which are already known to be safe can help us find new treatments for the diseases that cause dementia much quicker.
'Although it is still early days, it's encouraging to see a renewed focus on this type of research and development.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
These AI chatbot questions cause most carbon emissions, scientists find
Queries requiring AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT to think logically and reason produce more carbon emissions than other types of questions, according to a new study. Every query typed into a large language model like ChatGPT requires energy and leads to carbon dioxide emissions. The emission levels depend on the chatbot, the user, and the subject matter, researchers at Germany's Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences say. The study, published in the journal Frontiers, compares 14 AI models and finds that answers requiring complex reasoning cause more carbon emissions than simple answers. Queries needing lengthy reasoning, like abstract algebra or philosophy, cause up to six times greater emissions than more straightforward subjects like high school history. Researchers recommend that frequent users of AI chatbots adjust the kind of questions they pose to limit carbon emissions. The study assesses as many as 14 LLMs on 1,000 standardised questions across subjects to compare their carbon emissions. 'The environmental impact of questioning trained LLMs is strongly determined by their reasoning approach, with explicit reasoning processes significantly driving up energy consumption and carbon emissions," study author Maximilian Dauner says. 'We found that reasoning-enabled models produced up to 50 times more carbon dioxide emissions than concise response models.' When a user puts a question to an AI chatbot, words or parts of words in the query are converted into a string of numbers and processed by the model. This conversion and other computing processes of the AI produce carbon emissions. The study notes that reasoning models on average create 543.5 tokens per question while concise models require only 40. 'A higher token footprint always means higher CO2 emissions,' it says. For instance, one of the most accurate models is Cogito which reaches about 85 per cent accuracy. It produces three times more carbon emissions than similarly sized models that provide concise answers. "Currently, we see a clear accuracy-sustainability trade-off inherent in LLM technologies," Dr Dauner says. "None of the models that kept emissions below 500 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent achieved higher than 80 per cent accuracy on answering the 1,000 questions correctly.' Carbon dioxide equivalent is a unit for measuring the climate change impact of various greenhouse gases. Researchers hope the new findings will cause people to make more informed decisions about their AI use. Citing an example, researchers say queries seeking DeepSeek R1 chatbot to answer 600,000 questions may create carbon emissions equal to a round-trip flight from London to New York. In comparison, Alibaba Cloud's Qwen 2.5 can answer more than three times as many questions with similar accuracy rates while generating the same emissions. "Users can significantly reduce emissions by prompting AI to generate concise answers or limiting the use of high-capacity models to tasks that genuinely require that power," Dr Dauner says. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Searing heat this week made ‘100 times more likely' by climate change
Searing temperatures of 32C this week have been made 100 times more likely because of human-caused climate change, scientists said. A rapid study by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) research group also found the current heatwave in the south-east of England was around 10 times more likely than without human activity warming the planet. Dr Fredi Otto, from Imperial College London, warned heatwaves are 'silent killers', with the impacts of heat 'severely underestimated' and the UK unprepared for the kind of conditions hitting the country into the weekend. Older people are at the highest risk of death, as well as those with heart issues, respiratory illnesses and conditions such as diabetes, while this kind of heatwave earlier in the summer is more deadly as people are less acclimatised to coping with the warmer conditions, the experts warned. And wildfires are an 'emerging risk' in the summer in the UK, with conditions becoming more like southern Europe, the researchers said as they urged people to be very careful about barbecues, cigarettes and glass which can all ignite fires in the hot, dry weather. The study by WWA, which seeks to provide rapid assessments of the role of climate change in specific extreme weather events such as heatwaves or rainstorms that lead to flooding, is only the second time it has analysed an event as forecasted rather than one that has just happened. The analysis, which drew on observations for early summer heat in the south east of the UK, found that a heatwave – defined as three days of temperatures above 28C for the region – in June would be expected once every five years today. But without humans warming the atmosphere by around 1.3C since pre-industrial times, such a heatwave would only have occurred about once every 50 years, the study shows. The heatwave was made approximately 2-4C more intense as a result of the overall warming of the planet, meaning the current weather 'just wouldn't have been a heatwave without human-induced warming', Dr Ben Clarke, from Imperial College London, said. Temperatures had been forecast to hit 32C across the south east on Saturday and had already reached that level on Thursday in London. Heat of that level could be expected in June once in 25 years in the current climate, but only once in 2,500 years in June before industrialisation, the researchers said. While the impacts of temperatures rising above 30C are not as severe as the record-breaking heat topping 40C in some places in July 2022, the researchers warned people were still at risk. They urged people to ensure they were drinking enough water, and to encourage elderly relatives to do the same, avoid areas with high air pollution, keep windows and curtains shut during the day, and consider going to cooler public buildings such as museums to protect against the heat. Dr Clarke, researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London, said: 'This heatwave is another reminder that our planet has already heated to a dangerous level. 'We're at 1.3C today, but heading for around 3C this century. 'With every fraction of a degree of warming, the UK will experience hotter, more dangerous heatwaves. 'That means more heat deaths, more pressure on the NHS, more transport disruptions, tougher work conditions and poorer air quality.' Dr Otto, associate professor in climate science at the Centre for Environmental Policy, said: 'We know exactly what has intensified this heatwave – burning oil, gas and coal, which has loaded the atmosphere with planet-heating greenhouse gases. 'It is totally insane we have political leaders in the UK trying to drag us back to the past with calls for more fossil fuels. 'The climate will continue to drive increasingly dangerous heatwaves, fires and floods in the UK until emissions are reduced to net zero globally.' She added that while people working in air conditioned offices would 'probably be OK' this week, poorer people working outdoors, in kitchens or other hot environments and then returning home to poorly insulated flats would be enduring hot conditions throughout. 'Making our societies more equal is essential to reduce the impacts of climate change,' Dr Otto said.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
What today's crucial assisted dying vote is all about
MPs are preparing to take part in a crucial vote on Friday on the issue of assisted dying. Labour MP Kim Leadbeater says she is confident that her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will get the backing it requires in the Commons to then move on to the House of Lords. She introduced the bill to the house in October last year, and the proposed legislation has undergone a number of changes since. On the eve of the vote, Leadbeater said: 'We have the most robust piece of legislation in the world in front of us tomorrow." It is the first time the bill has been debated and voted on in its entirety since last year's historic 'yes' vote, when MPs supported the principle of assisted dying for England and Wales by a majority of 55. Leadbeater said of Friday's vote: 'There might be some small movement in the middle, some people might maybe change their mind one way, others will change their mind the other way but fundamentally I don't anticipate that that majority would be heavily eroded so I do feel confident we can get through tomorrow successfully. 'If we don't pass this law tomorrow, it could be another decade before this issue is brought back to Parliament." The legislation would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales who have been told they have fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death. This would need to be approved by two doctors and a panel that has a social worker, a senior legal figure and a psychiatrist. If approved, the terminally ill person would take an approved substance to end their life, provided by a doctor but administered by the person themselves. The third reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on Friday will be the last vote in the Commons and will determine if the proposed legislation goes to the House of Lords, where peers may suggest their own amendments. The first reading of a bill is its formal presentation, before the Commons debates it during the second reading, and any amendments made at committee and report stage. Once the Commons and the Lords are agreed on the contents of a bill, it receives royal assent and becomes law. MPs can have a free vote on the bill, meaning they do not have to follow party lines. It has been reported that about 15 MPs who supported the bill or abstained at its second reading vote last November have changed their minds and plan to vote against it. Supporters say the bill has better safeguards after more than 90 hours of parliamentary time spent on it so far, but opponents say the process has been rushed, weakening the legislation. Sir Keir Starmer has indicated he will back the bill, having already done so in a vote last November. He said this week position on the issue is 'long-standing and well-known', suggesting he has not changed his mind. HOW YOUR MP VOTED LAST TIME He said: 'There has been a lot of time discussing it, both in Parliament and beyond Parliament, and quite right too. It's a really serious issue." However, both his health secretary Wes Streeting and justice secretary Shabana Mahmood voted against the bill in November. Dan Carden, the MP for Liverpool Walton and leader of the so-called Blue Labour group, who previously abstained, said he will vote against the proposals. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch voted against the bill in November, as did Lib Dems leader Sir Ed Davey and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. One major change is that, if the bill did become law, the implementation period has been doubled to a maximum of four years after royal assent, rather than the initial suggestion of two. That means if the bill did eventually pass both houses later this year then assisted dying may not be offered until 2029. In addition, the initial requirement for a High Court judge to approve assisted dying applications has been scrapped, replaced by expert panels made up of a senior legal figure, a social worker and a psychiatrist, which opponents said weakened the bill. But Leadbeater said: "We are adding the expertise and experience of psychiatrists and social workers to provide extra protections in the areas of assessing mental capacity and detecting coercion while retaining judicial oversight." There were also changes made to ensure the establishment of independent advocates to support people with learning disabilities, autism or mental health conditions, while there is also a proposal to set up a disability advisory board to advise on the impact on disabled people. Assisted dying adverts will be banned if the bill does become law, following an amendment added earlier this month during the report stage, and doctors will be prohibited from talking to under-18s about assisted dying. A group of more than 50 Labour MPs wrote to the leader of the house Lucy Powell asking her to postpone Friday's vote because of the sheer number of amendments, saying more parliamentary time is need to scrutinise the bill. They wrote: "MPs will be arriving at Westminster on Friday morning without sight of the final version of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.'
