PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - Researchers at Brown University and two Rhode Island hospitals announced they are researching a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
Brown, Butler Hospital and The Miriam Hospital are starting a phase-one clinical trial of emtricitabine, the three institutions announced Monday.
The drug, sold under the name Emtriva, has been used to treat HIV. Brown professor John Sedivy led a study that found that the drug may reduce age-related inflammation that has been associated with Alzheimer’s, The Providence Journal reported.
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Sedivy will lead the new research with Alzheimer’s scientist and clinician Dr. Stephen P. Salloway, a neurology professor at Brown’s Warren Alpert Medical School and director of Butler Hospital’s Memory and Aging program.
Researchers plan to recruit 35 patients. Twenty-five will get the drug and 10 will get the placebo. The scientists hope to test the drug’s safety and tolerability with Alzheimer’s patients.
The research is being funded by a $750,000 grant from the Chicago-based Alzheimer’s Association.
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