ARPA Bio

 

What's is Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and what are the latest medical advances to treat the disease ?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that impairs memory and thinking and significantly affecting routine daily activities of individuals suffering from AD. It is widely accepted knowledge, that the decline in memory is associated with loss of brain cells (neurons) as a result of a gradual buildup of proteins, such as amyloid-beta and tau protein in the aging brain. This gradual build up or, to a certain extend lack of clearance of pathological protein aggregates such as amyloid-beta, is estimated to take place over a long, insidous phase of approximately 10 to 20 years prior to the clinical manifestation of cognitive impairment.

In 2025, the most promising therapeutic advances include new monoclonal antibody therapies (immuno-therapies) like lecanemab (Leqembi) and donanemab (Kisunla), which target pathological forms of the amyloid-beta protein (peptide) and have been shown to slow, to a certain extend cognitive decline, if administered early in the disease. Both FDA approved immuno-therapies target different pathologocial species of amyloid-beta and have been reported to show unique binding properties to specific, but rather advanced pathological species (morphology) of amyloid-beta. However, the holy grail in future early therapeutic intervention will involve a successful attenuation or, prevention from forming of early, neurotoxic amyloid species, including key molecular events that trigger the conversion to oligomers. ARPA Bio is committed to targeting this early, "lag phase" of the disease, using novel immuno-therapies, which clearly distinguish from the currently available clinical therapies.

Other breakthroughs feature drugs and strategies that protect the blood-brain barrier, AI-powered discovery for future therapies that restore neuronal function, and potential new interventions targeting tau pathology, neuroinflammation and gene expression signatures. Overall, these advances mark a shift toward disease modification, early diagnosis via blood biomarkers, and combined personalized approaches.