Special report: September is World Dementia Awareness Month – a time when families and health advocates drive awareness of global efforts to find a solution for what is now a $US818 billion health problem.

It’s a problem that hits close to home.

There are more than 400,000 Australians living with dementia – an umbrella category for a number of disorders affecting the brain, according to Dementia Australia.

Most of those patients have Alzheimer’s disease.

Alarmingly, dementia and Alzheimer’s are now the leading cause of death for Australian women and the second leading cause of death for men.

The question those affected by the disease will be asking this month is: are we any closer to finding a treatment?

Right now there are four drugs on the market that can be used to manage Alzheimer’s. But these drugs are usually only effective for about six months and do not impact the disease’s progression.

ASX-listed biotech Actinogen Medical wants to change that. And they plan on doing it before the next World Dementia Awareness Month comes around.

Actinogen (ASX:ACW) believes that by reducing the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the brains of those with mild Alzheimer’s, doctors can treat the symptoms and might even be able to slow down the progress of the disease.

The company is rapidly nearing the end of its global clinical trial XanADu, which is evaluating the effectiveness of its lead drug Xanamem in patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease.

The trial is well on track, with recruitment set to close before the end of 2018  and top-line results are expected in second quarter of 2019, less than 12 months from now.

Following a recent very successful capital raising, the company has also  announced a series of additional clinical studies with their novel treatment.

This is all good news for both Alzheimer’s sufferers as well as Actinogen’s shareholders.

The stock has hovered around $0.6c so far this year, with a market cap close to $62 million.

By comparison, recent deals to acquire similar Phase II drug developers in the Alzheimer’s space have averaged US$800 million, suggesting a potentially significant undervaluation of the business.

“In the US alone, there are 3.2 million people living with mild and moderate Alzheimer’s disease and they are being treated with drugs that offer, at best, only a limited and short-term benefit,” says Actinogen CEO

“What’s exciting about Xanamem is that it’s potentially applicable to all patients with cognitive decline associated with raised cortisol, not only Alzheimer’s disease.”

“It’s taken orally and could be used in combination with future therapies, with no serious adverse effects identified.”

“We’re operating within a huge and growing market with a significant unmet medical need and we’re on the cusp of hitting major milestones in Xanamem’s development.”

“Australian investors have the opportunity to be a part of this exciting potential solution to a global health crisis.”

 

This special report is brought to you by Actinogen Medical.

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