Page 43

Winter_ShakerLife_2017

SHAKER LIFE | WINTER 2017 41 Providing Access to Cutting-Edge Treatments At Insight, “all medications are from various pharmaceutical companies that include Eli Lilly and Co., Axovant, Neurocrine, Roche, Merck, and many others,” says Poggi. “At the initial consultation, the studies that meet the needs of the individual are explained to them. This includes written information on the study and the medication that they can take home and share with their significant others and physicians.” Insight is selective about the studies the company takes on. “We take a close look at what a new drug or medication is trying to do and decide if it makes sense in terms of the science,” Gould explains. Gould has focused primarily on what are called Phase 3 clinical trials, which is the final step a pharmaceutical company must take before receiving FDA approval. In these kinds of studies, patients have the opportunity to get early access to what may eventually prove to be a breakthrough treatment for their condition. At Insight, the majority of participants are in the early stages of cognitive impairment. “Like any other illness, Alzheimer’s has to be addressed early. The whole idea is to prevent the progression, so you want to catch it early enough to do that,” Gould says. “So, we do a lot of studies that have to do with mild cognitive impairment, which are the more subtle changes that occur before the actual diagnosis of Alzheimer’s is made.” Most of Insight’s patients are self-referred. They find out about the trials from doing online research, reading about it in print, from a friend or relative, or from a doctor. Some have heard Gould or Poggi speaking somewhere. And some are referred from the Foley ElderHealth Center of University Hospitals. Gould puts trial enrollees through an extensive evaluation, which includes a PET (positron emission tomography) scan. A PET scan, which costs about $3,000, is now the only way to see the accumulation of beta-amyloid in the brain, yet it isn’t routinely prescribed by doctors as it’s not yet covered by Medicare. For trial participants, it’s free. “If we know someone has the beta-amyloid, we are going to be able to address it much earlier – hopefully, with some of the medications we’re trying to find now.” In addition, at the end of a trial – they last anywhere from six months to two years – all participants are able to receive the medication and keep taking it free until it hits the market, a process that can take from five to seven years. For Alzheimer’s patients, who live on average eight years after diagnosis, that’s time they don’t have to wait for potentially effective treatments to be officially approved. For Gould, the work goes on, which also includes speaking in the community about Alzheimer’s and age-related memory loss. “We want to educate people and help them understand that even if there is not now a solution to this problem, some day there may be.”


Winter_ShakerLife_2017
To see the actual publication please follow the link above