2024 Portfolio Snapshot by Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation

This is an exceptionally exciting time for Alzheimer’s research, and it is more critical than ever to maintain our momentum.

Dear Frien D s ,

We have seen incredible strides in the Alzheimer’s field over the past year, with the ADDF at the forefront, shaping and leading the science. Our 2024 Portfolio Snapshot encapsulates the wide array of innovative projects we support, which are propelling us toward our ultimate goal of combination therapies and precision medicine – the same approach used successfully in cancer treatment.

This is an exceptionally exciting time for Alzheimer’s research, and it is more critical than ever to maintain our momentum. Earlier this year, Kisunla was approved by the FDA, adding to the first class of Alzheimer’s drugs, which offer options for patients in the immediate term. At the ADDF, we are continuing to advance our diverse pipeline of therapeutics through the Clinical Trials Fund. These programs are informed by the biology of aging and one day will be combined with existing drugs to amplify their effects and stop Alzheimer’s in its tracks.

This has also been a remarkable few months for biomarker research, so much so that we have called 2024 the “year of the blood test.” And much of this progress has been propelled through our Diagnostics Accelerator. The ADDF’s portfolio of promising blood tests, eye scans, and digital tools to help diagnose Alzheimer’s is progressing at a faster rate than ever before. New data and partnerships for several of our funded blood tests were recently announced, bringing us closer to the day when you will be able to walk into your primary care doctor’s office and be given a simple blood test to measure cognitive impairment as easily as we now measure cholesterol.

And we continue to see progress in preventing Alzheimer’s, including compelling new data from several of our funded investigators on how lifestyle modifications such as healthy diet and exercise can have positive effects on cognitive function.

It is thanks to dedicated partners like you that we are able to advance this cutting-edge research and bring hope to all those impacted by Alzheimer’s. Thank you.

With gratitude,

Howar D Fillit, M.D. Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer

Mark

r oit HM ayr Chief Executive Officer

PROJECT SPOTLIGHTS

Fred Grossman, DO, FAPA

Program: Therapeutics, Clinical Phase 2

Coya Therapeutics is testing a novel combination therapy that targets inflammation and abnormal immune function to treat frontotemporal degeneration (FTD), a rare form of dementia most common in people under 60. Clinical trials for FTD can also unlock insights into Alzheimer’s, and combination therapy approaches are especially promising because they allow us to target multiple causes of the disease at once. The ADDF is supporting Coya’s phase 2 clinical trial.

Tony Giordano, PhD

Program: Therapeutics, Clinical Phase 2

Neurotherapia is developing a novel drug that aims to protect neurons from the damaging effects of inflammation caused by over-activation of microglia, immune cells in the brain. Recent research has deepened our understanding of inflammation and established it as a particularly promising target for treating Alzheimer’s disease. Neurotherapia is planning to conduct a phase 2a trial to demonstrate whether their drug can successfully inhibit neuroinflammation and improve cognition in Alzheimer’s patients.

Lee Honigberg, PhD

Program: Diagnostics, Blood

ALZpath is developing a novel blood-based pTau217 antibody that can be used to create scalable and accessible blood tests to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. In recent months, pTau217 has emerged as the leading blood-based diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer’s. In June, ALZpath announced licensing agreements with both Roche and Beckman Coulter that will lay the path for their pTau217 antibody to become a best-in-class blood test that will be easily accessible to patients and hold the potential to replace current, more invasive diagnostic tests.

Miia Kivipelto, MD, PhD

Program: Prevention, Clinical Phase 2

Dr. Miia Kivipelto has shown through her groundbreaking Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability (FINGER) trial that multimodal lifestyle interventions— such as exercise, diet, social stimulation, and management of vascular and metabolic risk factors—can prevent cognitive decline. With the ADDF’s support, Dr. Kivipelto’s phase 2 MET-FINGER trial is adding the diabetes drug metformin to these lifestyle interventions to see whether they can have an even greater effect when combined with a therapeutic.

THE ADDF PORTFOLIO

Clinical Trials

GENETICS AND EPIGENETICS

Lexeo Therapeutics Inc. / Ronald Crystal

Weill Medical College of Cornell University / Ronald Crystal

University of Southern California / Hussein Yassine

INFLAMMATION

Clinical Phase 1

Clinical Phase 2

The Scripps Research Institute / Sean Joseph Clinical Phase 1

Vaccinex Inc. / Eric Siemers Clinical Phase 1

Therini Bio / Thomas Wessel Clinical Phase 1

NeuroTherapia Inc. / Tony Giordano

Coya Therapeutics / Fred Grossman

Phase 2

Sunnybrook Research Institute / Krista Lanctôt Clinical Phase 2

Dignity Health St Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center / Marwan Sabbagh Clinical Phase 2

Treeway B.V. / Ronald van der Geest

University of California at Davis / John Olichney

MISFOLDED PROTEINS

University of Arizona / Roberta Brinton

Brown University / Edward Huey

Wake Forest University / Miranda Orr

Clinical Phase 2

Drug Manufacture

MITOCHONDRIA AND METABOLIC FUNCTION

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam / E.G.B. Vijverberg

Imperial College London / Paul Edison

Metro International Biotech / David Livingston

NEUROPROTECTION

Clinical Phase 1

Clinical Phase 2

Duke University / Miles Berger Clinical Phase 2

Imperial College London / Paul Edison

Massachusetts General Hospital / Emiliano Santarnecchi

PharmatrophiX / Anne Longo

Cognito Therapeutics / Ralph Kern

SYNAPTIC ACTIVITY AND NEUROTRANSMITTERS

Curasen Therapeutics Inc. / Gabriel Vargas

University of Exeter / Clive Ballard

McGill University / Simon Ducharme

NSC-Therapeutics GmbH / Manfred Windisch

Santa Lucia Foundation / Giacomo Koch

/ Ronald van der Geest

In Partnership with the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration Collaboration with the Harrington Discovery Institute ADDF Prevention Portfolio Follow-on Funding

Phase 1

Phase 2

Pre-Clinical Programs

GRANTEE / PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

INFLAMMATION

UniQuest / Andrew Harvey

St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research / Michael Parker

Indiana University / Timothy Richardson

University of Alabama at Birmingham / Erik Roberson

UHN-Krembil / Donald Weaver

Pelagos Pharmaceuticals Inc. / Robert Williams

Massachusetts General Hospital / Christiane Wrann

MISFOLDED PROTEINS

University of California, Santa Barbara / Kenneth Kosik

Ankar Pharmaceuticals / Ana Martinez

Johns Hopkins University / Jeffrey Rothstein

Aprinoia Therapeutics Inc. / Lili Zhang

MITOCHONDRIA AND METABOLIC FUNCTION

GliaPharm SA / Pierre Magistretti

NEUROPROTECTION

Pangea Botanica Ltd / Alleyn Plowright

AcuraStem Inc. / Peter Sazani

Case Western Reserve University / Paul Tesar

SYNAPTIC ACTIVITY AND NEUROTRANSMITTERS

University of Minnesota / Karen Ashe

Cleveland Clinic Foundation / Dianne Perez

Vanderbilt University / Jerri Rook

VASCULAR

University College London / Fiona Ducotterd

OTHER

German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases / Dieter Edbauer

Genuv Inc. / Sungho Han

University of Dundee / Rosemary Jackson

Astrocyte Pharmaceuticals Inc. / James Lechleiter

Life Biosciences / Sharon Rosenzweig-Lipson

Diagnostics Accelerator

GRANTEE / PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

BLOOD

NeuroVision Imaging Inc. / Leyla Anderson

ADmit Therapeutics S.L. / Marta Barrachina

C2N Diagnostics / Joel Braunstein

GLX Analytix ApS / Brian Della Valle

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem / Yuval Dor

NeuroDex / Erez Eitan

Biological Dynamics Inc. / Mary Esola

Davos Alzheimers Collaborative / Phyllis Ferrell

Amoneta Diagnostics / Hueseyin Firat

NeuroAge Therapeutics / Christin Glorioso

ALZpath Inc. / Lee Honigberg

Foundation for the National Institutes of Health / Rohini Khilian

University of Utah / Qinwen Mao

In Partnership with the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration Collaboration with the Harrington Discovery Institute

ADDF Prevention Portfolio Follow-on Funding

Bluefield Project to Cure FTD / Laura Mitic

Esya Inc. / Souvik Modi

Monash University / Matthew Pase

NeuroVision Imaging Inc. / Blaine Roberts

Superfluid Dx / John Sninsky

Hummingbird Diagnostics GmbH / Bruno Steinkraus

Stichting Amsterdam UMC / Betty Tijms

ToxGenSolutions BV / Maria Tsamou

Fujirebio Europe NV / Manu Vandijck

University of Kansas Medical Center / Heather Wilkins

Quanterix Corporation / David Wilson

University of Gothenburg / Henrik Zetterberg

DIGITAL

Boston University / Rhoda Au

Cogstate Ltd / Chris Edgar

Neurotrack Technologies Inc. / Jordan Glenn

Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) / Pip Griffiths

Alzheimer’s Research UK / Zoe Kourtzi

ki elements / Nicklas Linz

ETH Zurich / Rafael Polania

C. Light Technologies Inc. / Christy Sheehy

Altoida Inc. / Ioannis Tarnanas

UsAgainstAlzheimer’s / Ben Tiede

The Chinese University of Hong Kong / Guoliang Xing

SpeechDx / Partnership OCULAR

University of Washington / Cecilia Lee

RetiSpec Inc. / Eliav Shaked

Optina Diagnostics / Jean-Philippe Sylvestre

Centre for Eye Research Australia / Peter van Wijngaarden

OTHER

University of California, Irvine / Elizabeth Thomas

Startup Health LLC / Elizabeth Dale

Other Biomarker Programs

GRANTEE / PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

University of Nevada Las Vegas / Jeffrey Cummings

Imeka / Maxime Descoteaux

Massachusetts General Hospital / Jeremy Ford

Imaginostics Inc. / Codi Gharagouzloo

Tufts Medical Center / David Kent

Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Inc. / Rohini Khilian

Mayo Clinic Rochester / Val Lowe

The University of Edinburgh / Neil McKenzie

University College London / Simon Mead

MindImmune Therapeutics Inc. / Frank Menniti

Aprinoia Therapeutics Inc. / Bradford Navia

Precision Molecular Inc. / Martin Pomper

BrainScope Company Inc. / Leslie Prichep

In Partnership with the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration Collaboration with the Harrington Discovery Institute ADDF Prevention Portfolio Follow-on Funding

Life Molecular Imaging Ltd / Andrew Stephens

Amsterdam UMC, Universiteit van Amsterdam / Charlotte Teunissen

C2N Diagnostics / Kevin Yarasheski

Virginia Commonwealth University / Shijun Zhang

Other

GRANTEE / PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

FINGERS Brain Health Institute / Miia Kivipelto

Sunnybrook Research Institute / Walter Swardfager

In Partnership with the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration Collaboration with the Harrington Discovery Institute ADDF Prevention Portfolio Follow-on Funding

YOU

Your dedication makes the critical work highlighted in this report possible. Together, we will bring effective treatments to the millions of Alzheimer’s patients and their families around the world and stop this disease in its tracks.