2023-09-15 23:05:10
PARIS, September 15, 2023 (APMnews) – French research in the field of Alzheimer’s disease is “very active”, with laboratories of excellence and an infrastructure “solid and unique in Europe”, but must face to several challenges to continue to contribute to major advances in care, points out the Vaincre Alzheimer foundation in its first report on medical research in the field, published Thursday ahead of World Alzheimer’s Day on September 21.
This is the first French report from the associative world concerning the state of medical research on Alzheimer’s disease both in France and internationally, indicates the foundation in the summary of this document of around fifty pages.
Within international research, “French research is very active, with laboratories of excellence and a solid and unique clinical research infrastructure in Europe,” she underlines in a press release.
“But it faces several challenges: financing, human resources, administrative constraints, absence of a national plan dedicated to the disease,” she continues while a consultation has been launched for a strategy for neurodegenerative diseases (MND) 2024- 2028 (see dispatch from 09/14/2023 at 4:13 p.m.) after several years without strong political commitment (see dispatch from 07/11/2022 at 6:57 p.m. et dispatch from 06/16/2021 at 09:45).
As “there is still no treatment to completely cure Alzheimer’s disease”, “it is essential to continue to invest massively in research and promote collaboration between teams, in France and around the world”, continues the foundation.
In her report, she emphasizes that in the field of fundamental and preclinical research, France is “one of the countries at the forefront of research on Alzheimer’s disease throughout the country”, citing the seven centers of excellence in research on neurodegenerative diseases (CoEN) created as part of the National MND Plan 2014-2019, with the particularity of integrating fundamental and clinical research, but also research in social sciences and research in epidemiology.
“Around a hundred other high-level laboratories and research institutes, attached to various French public structures, cover the territory and allow France to be at the forefront in many fields” and at the forefront of new technologies, adds the foundation, citing genetics and gene therapy, the study of biological markers, cell therapy.
French clinical research on Alzheimer’s disease has been structured thanks to three successive national plans, which have enabled the creation of memory resource and research centers (CMRR) as well as memory consultations to facilitate diagnosis and promote clinical studies. , currently numbering 28 and 450 respectively.
It mainly focuses on the implementation of a combined approach for early diagnosis, which integrates the use of biological biomarkers and imaging techniques, with the particular objective of harmonizing practices across the territory.
This research benefits from national and international collaborations, particularly within the framework of clinical trials and international cohorts, underlines the foundation.
Regulatory obstacles and administrative slowness
However, “clinical research on Alzheimer’s disease in France faces several major obstacles and challenges which can hinder its progress”. First of all, there are regulatory obstacles and administrative slowness, which slows down the launch of studies and the collection of data, and pushes industrial partners to conduct clinical trials in other countries.
However, participation in a therapeutic trial allows better monitoring of the people included.
“Another important challenge lies in the lack of government funding dedicated to Alzheimer’s disease,” points out the foundation. So far, the MND roadmap “maintains the existing measures of previous plans” but in the absence of a specific plan, the research lacks coordination and public calls for tender.
The understaffing of health personnel in hospitals, with increasing demands for care, represents “an additional challenge which impacts clinical research” carried out in CMRRs.
In its report, the Vaincre Alzheimer foundation notes that in addition to the two proteins beta-amyloid and tau, other promising therapeutic targets are arousing research interest: neuroinflammation, the vascular side of the disease, genetics, gut microbiota, metabolic dysfunction and neuroprotection.
In 2023, more than 140 drug candidates for Alzheimer’s disease are under clinical development around the world, with two main areas of action: on the one hand, symptomatic treatments aimed at reducing cognitive and psychobehavioral symptoms, and on the other hand, “disease-modifier” treatments aimed at changing the course of the disease.
Apart from pharmacological treatments, other avenues are being developed, such as non-drug approaches, neurostimulation, physical activity, etc.
“Given that this disease is multifactorial and involves complex mechanisms, it is increasingly recognized that a single treatment will probably not be enough” and that several treatments will need to be combined “to act on different biological targets of the disease. ‘Alzheimer’, underlines the foundation.
It is also necessary to continue work on diagnosis, treatment and prevention, she adds.
Created in 2005, Vaincre Alzheimer is a foundation recognized as being of public utility and has contributed to major advances in research against the disease, she recalls.
Medical research specializing in Alzheimer’s disease: current situation and prospects for hope
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