• Press Release

Mount Sinai Researchers Find New Alzheimer's Disease Treatment Promising

Study hopes to show that the new treatment is safe and effective for stabilizing cognitive performance for patients with mild to moderate forms of Alzheimer's disease.

  • New York, NY
  • (July 12, 2009)

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that NIC5-15, a new Alzheimer’s drug, might be a safe and effective treatment to stabilize cognitive performance in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. The two investigators, Giulio Maria Pasinetti, M.D., Ph.D. , and Hillel Grossman, M.D., presented Phase IIA preliminary clinical findings at the 2009 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD) in Vienna on Monday, July 13.

NIC5-15’s potential to lessen decline in cognitive performance will be further evaluated in a Phase IIB clinical trial. Early evidence suggests that NIC5-15 is a safe and tolerable natural compound that may stabilize Alzheimer’s disease dementia by preventing the formation in the brain of beta-amyloid plaques, which are believed to be a leading cause of Alzheimer’s disease.

We are hopeful that the follow up clinical study will support this preliminary evidence, said Dr. Pasinetti, Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Neuroscience and Professor of Geriatrics and Adult Development, in the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "With Alzheimer’s disease affecting 5.2 million Americans, another 5 million with early-state disease, and nearly a half million new cases reported annually, treatments like NIC5-15 would make a significant difference in the lives of many Alzheimer’s patients."

There are no FDA-approved Alzheimer’s disease modifying drugs available today, said Dr. Hillel Grossman, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Co-Director of the Clinical Research Core of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, and Clinical Director of the Mount Sinai Memory and Aging Center. "Current drugs approved for use help maintain cognitive function, but only for a limited time. NIC5-15 is part of a new class of natural compound we found to have the potential of precluding the generation of ß-amyloid and, eventually, attenuating cognitive deterioration in preclinical models of Alzheimer’s disease."

The study was conducted at the Mount Sinai Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC), a nationally renowned center of excellence since 1984. ADCR is a comprehensive research facility and clinical program dedicated to the study and treatment of both normal aging and Alzheimer's disease. The Center is supported by the National Institute on Aging, a branch of the National Institutes of Health.

Humanetics Corporation, manufacturers of NIC5-15, sponsored the study. Phase IIB clinical trials on NIC5-15 are expected to begin later this year.

Disclosure: Dr. Pasinetti has a patent pending for the use of NIC5-15 in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The patent application was filed on his behalf by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Pasinetti and the School of Medicine could benefit financially from the results of this trial.

About The Mount Sinai Medical Center
The Mount Sinai Medical Center encompasses The Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The Mount Sinai Hospital is one of the nation’s oldest, largest and most-respected voluntary hospitals. Founded in 1852, Mount Sinai today is a 1,171-bed tertiary-care teaching facility that is internationally acclaimed for excellence in clinical care. Last year, nearly 50,000 people were treated at Mount Sinai as inpatients, and there were nearly 450,000 outpatient visits to the Medical Center.

Mount Sinai School of Medicine is internationally recognized as a leader in groundbreaking clinical and basic-science research, as well as having an innovative approach to medical education. With a faculty of more than 3,400 in 38 clinical and basic science departments and centers, Mount Sinai ranks among the top 20 medical schools in receipt of National Institute of Health (NIH) grants.

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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