LAW VEGAS, Nev., July 10 (UPI) -- U.S drug maker Samaritan said Tuesday animal studies of its experimental Alzheimer's drug Caprospinol suggest the disease may be reversible.
The company said a study of the new treatment in rats showed the drug is able to substantially decrease levels of beta amyloid plaque -- the substance that causes the disease -- in the brain, bringing memory capability back to baseline.
"Memory recovery in rats is a lot simpler than curing Alzheimer's disease in people, but these study results are extremely encouraging," said Janet Greeson, CEO of Samaritan Pharmaceuticals. "The rats tested with our proprietary Alzheimer's rat model took on features similar to the crippling dementia seen in a human's Alzheimer's brain, and then, by treating the rats with Caprospinol, the rat's brain cells bounced back with complete memory."
The study demonstrated memory improvement in the animals via the Morris water maze task, Samaritan said.
