Cambridge Cognition Holdings PLC (AIM:COG) said it was selected by the University of Oxford as a cognitive assessment partner for a clinical trial testing the use of a diabetes drug in reducing the risk of Alzheimer's dementia.
The company, which develops and markets solutions to assess brain health, will provide the university with cognitive assessments for the Impact of Semaglutide in Amyloid Positivity (ISAP) study.
The trail will investigate the effectiveness of oral semaglutide, a diabetes medication, against the neuropathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (specifically, tau accumulation and neuroinflammation).
Amyloid positivity is the existence of a beta-amyloid in the brain which increases the clinical likelihood of Alzheimer’s.
According to a statement, Cambridge Cognitions expects to receive validation for its voice-based solution used to deliver cognitive tests, NeuroVocalix.
“We are particularly pleased to be including our voice solution, NeuroVocalix™, as we believe it could help track the earliest cognitive indicators of dementia and this study is an important step as we gather further validation data,” said chief executive Matthew Stork.
The ISAP study will determine whether semglutide can reduce tau pathology and neuroinflammation over the course of the year after animal studies suggested it could do so
It will focus on developing a treatment for the earliest signs of Alzheimer’s by using participants who are at an increased risk of developing dementia.
Any cognitive changes in participants will be measured with Cambridge Cognitions’ digital assessments CANTAB and NeuroVocalix at the start, week 26 and week 52 of the study.
More than 57.4mln people globally live with dementia, with that number expected to hit 152.8mln by 2050 without the introduction of a new medication.