This New Alzheimer's Drug Could Be the Fastest Route to a Treatment Breakthrough

Michael A. Robinson

Just last week, two major pharmaceutical companies announced that they are working together on a new Alzheimer's drug – and that's great news.

Alzheimer's disease will end up affecting one out of eight people reading this.

More than 5.3 million Americans suffer from the debilitating brain disease right now. And with the aging of the nation's baby boomers, the number of Alzheimer's cases is set to quadruple.

So far, researchers have found no pharmaceuticals that substantially cure, treat, or even slow the disease down.

The treatment that the AstraZeneca Plc. (NYSE ADR: AZN)-Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) team is working on gives us hope. But it may be a decade away from becoming reality.

But another biotech company is zooming ahead in the race for the cure – and its drug is in late-stage phase 3 trials.

In other words, there is a way to both fight Alzheimer's and supercharge your portfolio – today…

A Long Race to Develop a New Alzheimer's Drug

As investors, it's important for us that a lot of money is up for grabs.

And it is.

According to AstraZeneca and Lilly, the experimental drug they are working on could be worth $5 billion in annual sales.

That would put it in line with best-selling drugs like Crestor and Cymbalta. The current total market for Alzheimer's drugs is estimated at $10 billion.

However, the firms acknowledge the technology they are exploring – a so-called "BACE inhibitor" – has just a 9% chance of success.

So, today I'd like to tell you about another major pharmaceutical firm that is exploring similar pharmacology but is much further along in the approval process – and so, gives access to the fastest gains for investors.

When it comes to Alzheimer's research, I have a rare front-row seat into what's developing in this exciting but challenging field.

My cousin by marriage is researching the disease as part of his role at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Geoffrey Kerchner is a neurologist and director of research at the Stanford Center for Memory Disorders.

In his research, Geoffrey uses advanced, high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to discover the earliest signs of Alzheimer's and other brain illnesses. The goal is to detect these diseases before patients exhibit or suffer symptoms.

Geoffrey has emphasized to me several times that the early detection of neurological disorders gives patients much better treatment options.

Though there is no known cure, doctors have some tools at their disposal that can help patients cope with Alzheimer's, including four drugs. Unfortunately, their impact is limited.

Here's what they're up against.

Michael A. Robinson

About the Author

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Michael A. Robinson is one of the top financial analysts working today. His book "Overdrawn: The Bailout of American Savings" was a prescient look at the anatomy of the nation's S&L crisis, long before the word "bailout" became part of our daily lexicon. He's a Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer and reporter, lauded by the Columbia Journalism Review for his aggressive style. His 30-year track record as a leading tech analyst has garnered him rave reviews, too. Today he is the editor of the monthly tech investing newsletter Nova-X Report as well as Radical Technology Profits, where he covers truly radical technologies – ones that have the power to sweep across the globe and change the very fabric of our lives – and profit opportunities they give rise to. He also explores "what's next" in the tech investing world at Strategic Tech Investor.

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