Hunt for Alzheimer's disease treatment intensifies

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Chicago Tribune

Drugmakers, including Abbott and Baxter, increase efforts despite setbacks

By Bruce Japsen | Tribune reporter

Just two weeks ago, word came from an international science meeting in Vienna that Abbott Laboratories had halted a study of an Alzheimer's pill, the latest in a growing number of pharmaceutical company failures related to treatment of the disease.

But the North Chicago-based medical products company and its rivals are hardly giving up.

"This is an area where the reward is so great and the unmet need is so high we are going to continue to be involved," said James Summers, head of Abbott's neuroscience drug discovery.

The payoff for treatments would be worth billions of dollars, especially as the world's population ages. The disease and related dementia affect more than 5 million Americans and 30 million people around the world. But the worldwide number is expected to rise fourfold, to 120 million people by 2050.

Abbott is competing against Deerfield-based Baxter International Inc., as well as drugmakers such as Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Wyeth, that say they are making unprecedented investments in what has been an elusive treatment category.

"What is a positive about the increasing investments is that.......read more of
Alzheimer's disease treatment intensifies