Breakthrough enables continuous, non-invasive monitoring of the brain’s waste clearance system, unlocking new drug targets for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases
Applied Cognition, a clinical-stage platform therapeutic company, today announced the publication of a groundbreaking study in Nature Biomedical Engineering demonstrating the first continuous, non-invasive measurement of human glymphatic function—the brain’s system for clearing waste, including Alzheimer’s-associated proteins like amyloid and tau.
Working with researchers at the University of Florida and the University of Washington School of Medicine, the company validated its novel multimodal electrical impedance spectroscopy device using contrast-enhanced MRI. The platform also revealed, for the first time in humans, how EEG and cardiovascular physiology contribute to sleep-active glymphatic activity.
“This work is pivotal in defining the role glymphatic dysfunction plays in Alzheimer’s and discovering therapies to rescue it,” said Dr. Paul Dagum, CEO and co-founder of Applied Cognition. “Our platform has already identified a promising drug candidate that improves glymphatic clearance in early clinical trials.”
Originally characterized in rodents, the glymphatic system plays a vital role in the removal of toxic proteins. Until now, studying its function in humans has been limited to slow, high-cost MRI scans. Applied Cognition’s technology offers a scalable solution that allows real-time, remote, and high-resolution tracking, enabling new avenues for drug discovery.
Co-author on this study was Dr. Jeffrey Iliff, PhD, Psychiatry, University of Washington School of Medicine, who along with Dr. Maiken Nedergaard at the University of Rochester Medical Center characterized the glymphatic system in rodents.
“This unlocks our ability to study glymphatic function in the real world and with high-temporal resolution, not just the MRI suite, giving us new mechanistic insights of its role in neurological and psychiatric conditions,” said Dr. Iliff.
Piyush Jain, Head of New Products at Genentech, added: “Applied Cognition is bridging the gap between lab science and patient care. Their platform is accelerating the discovery of drugs that target the clearance of misfolded proteins at the root of devastating neurological diseases."
Applied Cognition is advancing its lead drug program for early-stage Alzheimer’s and expanding its pipeline across neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders.
The paper’s authors include Paul Dagum, Laurent Giovangrandi, Swati Rane Levendovszky, Jake J. Winebaum, Tarandeep Singh, Yeilim Cho, Robert M. Kaplan, Michael S. Jaffee, Miranda M. Lim, Carla Vandeweerd, and Jeffrey J. Iliff.
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About Applied Cognition
Applied Cognition is clinical-stage platform therapeutics company advancing the brain’s glymphatic system to drug development. Enhancing glymphatic function is a promising new therapeutic strategy for treating neurodegenerative diseases. Using its first-in-class platform, which enables continuous monitoring of glymphatic activity in humans, the company has successfully identified the first therapeutic target and lead drug candidate to enhance glymphatic clearance of amyloid and tau. Applied Cognition is currently advancing this lead program for early-stage Alzheimer’s and expanding its pipeline to explore treatments for other conditions using its platform.
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