SAN FRANCISCO — Alzheimer’s patients who received an experimental protein cocktail derived from young blood plasma maintained their performance on measures of cognition and function after six months, the biotech company behind the therapy, Alkahest, said on Monday.
Alkahest’s announcement crucially did not include the release of any data — that’s planned for an Alzheimer’s research conference in December — but if the full results hold muster they could provide a boost for a controversial field of science that has captured the popular imagination.
The Silicon Valley company tested its plasma protein cocktail, known as GRF-6019, in a Phase 2 study that initially enrolled 47 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Thirty-nine patients were evaluated. Patients were randomly assigned to get either a high dose or a low dose infused into their veins for five consecutive days at the start of the study, and then for another five straight days 12 weeks later.
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