Session Description:

There’s no question we’ve entered a new era of Alzheimer's research, but what will the field look like in the year 2033? More importantly—how can we leverage our existing knowledge and recent progress to continue gaining momentum in the field over the next decade?

While the first class of anti-amyloid therapies is on the market, these drugs are only effective in reducing cognitive decline by around 30%. Informed by success in other diseases of chronic aging, such as cancer, the goal is to develop multiple therapies that can be used in combination with one another and prescribed based on patients’ individual biomarker profiles for a precision medicine approach. As such, advancements in the next class of novel therapeutics centered around the biology of aging will be crucial to halting cognitive decline altogether. As we look to develop this next generation of drugs, we’ve reached an inflection point where we must reimagine how we design and conduct clinical trials. For instance, a trial that takes a combination therapy approach and explores the benefits of the anti-amyloids, cholinesterase inhibitors and novel therapies has the potential to unlock an unprecedented reduction in cognitive decline. With over six million Americans living with Alzheimer’s, there is a pressing need to develop new guidelines to accelerate these trials and streamline for efficacy, duration, and cost. It is our duty to continue building on the momentum of the past few years to ensure patients get new, more effective treatments faster than ever.

This roundtable aims to catalyze a thought-provoking discussion around the vision for the future of Alzheimer's treatments, including the evolving role that biotech companies, pharma, VCs, and philanthropy will play in advancing the science and directing the funding as we look to create the path forward.