The two companies that have discovered bapineuzumab, a drug that is supposed to slow down the disease progression, have seen recently their shares rise significantly after they have published a study showing partial results of the treatment of more than 70 patients with the newfound drug. However, shares of Dublin, Ireland based Elan; and of Wyeth, a pharmaceutical company from Madison, New Jersey, have tumbled back after they released more data on the drug.

Elan and Wyeth released additional data from a Phase II clinical trial, showing that their bapineuzumab drug, while somewhat effective, caused brain swelling in a handful of users, which poses questions towards its actual safety. Wyeth and Elan will go ahead with Phase III clinical trials which will involve about 4,100 patients, but the results so far are not great.

Alzheimer patients who were diagnosed with a genetic variation called ApoE4 haven’t presented any improvement in cognitive functions during treatment. People who have the gene accountable for the variation’s apparition are the most likely ones to develop the disease.

However, there is some good news for Alzheimer's patients and those at risk. Another experimental drug called Rember, which was developed by private biotechnology company TauRX, was recently reported to have produced a significant improvement in thinking and memory, two cognitive abilities affected by the Alzheimer’s disease. It is a purified form of a substance commonly known as methylene blue (also used for urinary tract infections and carbon monoxide poisoning for decades).

Alzheimer’s causes a progressive loss of memory and mental faculties, which can be devastating for the patients concerned and those around them. According to the World Health Organization, there are about 18 million people worldwide with Alzheimer’s disease. By 2025, that number is expected to reach 34 million, as existing drugs can ease symptoms but do not stop the disease. There are currently five drugs approved to treat Alzheimer’s, which causes a progressive loss of memory and mental faculty, but they only mask symptoms for 6 to 12 months at most.

Last month, Myriad Genetics, Inc. has announced its upcoming Alzheimer drug Flurizan (tarenflurbil) which the company alleges that it works in two different ways to stop the disease. Tarenflurbil is part of a class called gamma-secretase modulators (GSM), whose exact way of action was still unclear.

Also, in late June, a team led by Dr. Ganesh M. Shankar and Dr. Dennis J. Selkoe of Harvard Medical School has found that a particular form of beta-amyloid, extracted from brains of dead humans, causes Alzheimer's in rats. This partly solves a medical dilemma which surrounded the fact that although some people develop beta-amyloid plaques they do not have Alzheimer's symptoms. The new experiment points out the area where future research needs to focus, which might eventually lead to developing a cure or means to prevent Alzheimer's altogether.