Singapore: Singapore start-up and Scotland based TauRx Therapeutics is progressing in its two Phase III clinical trials of LMTX, a tau aggregation inhibitor, for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease with the enrollment of 700 subjects with mild Alzheimer's disease.

The multi-centre, placebo-controlled clinical trial (Protocol TRx-237-005) is aimed at assessing the efficacy of LMTX in people diagnosed with mild Alzheimer's disease. The study is also evaluating the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of LMTX, and incorporates imaging endpoints in all subjects.

Professor Claude Wischik, Chairman and co-founder of TauRx, said "Reaching our enrolment targets for both of our Phase III Alzheimer's disease clinical trials is a major milestone for our Company and it is particularly apt that we can announce this on World Alzheimer's Day. This achievement brings us another step closer to our objective to offer the first tau-targeted disease-modifying treatment for Alzheimer's disease - an important treatment advance for patients." He added "Having recently participated in the G8 Dementia Summit legacy meetings, I am acutely aware of the call from governments, physicians, carers, patients and international Alzheimer's groups for innovative treatments to slow or stop the inevitable cognitive decline to dementia. With both of our studies now set for completion in 2016, TauRx may be in the unique position of turning this hope into practical reality in the very near future."

Dr Serge Gauthier, MD, FRCPC of the McGill Centre for Studies in Aging, Montreal, Canada, a leading physician investigator participating in both TauRx Phase III clinical trials for Alzheimer's and TauRx's bvFTD trial, noted, "Having a tau-targeted treatment that slows or halts the progression of Alzheimer's will be a breakthrough for people facing this disease worldwide. With many failed attempts in alternative approaches, we could at last be on the right path towards altering the underlying pathology that leads to dementia."

TauRx Therapeutics is a spin-out company from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and was established in Singapore in 2002 with the aim of developing new treatments and diagnostics for a range of neurodegenerative diseases. The company's tau aggregation inhibitor, LMTX, is currently in global Phase 3 clinical trials for Alzheimer's and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD).