Experimental Drug Ketasyn(TM) Improves Memory in Age-Associated Memory Impair...( BROOMFIELD Colo. Aug. 29 /- Accer...),Health

BROOMFIELD, Colo., Aug. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Accera, Inc. announced today that recent data from a Phase II study of its lead compound Ketasyn(TM) (AC- 1202) in age-associated memory impairment (AAMI) showed that Ketasyn has a positive and clinically meaningful effect on memory in older adults.

AAMI is the decline in memory that occurs during the natural course of aging, The National Institute of Mental Health criteria for AAMI include complaints of gradual memory loss in everyday problems in persons more than 50 years of age. AAMI affects an estimated 10-15 million people in the U.S., and may be a precursor to Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is expected to afflict 11-16 million Americans in the next 40 years.

AAMI symptoms may be related to declines in glucose metabolism in the brain that are also associated with aging. Glucose is the brain's primary fuel source, so aging brains with impaired glucose metabolism require an alternative source of energy. Ketasyn is an orally available compound that is metabolized into ketone bodies, which the brain can use for energy even when its ability to process glucose is impaired.

"The results of this study support the hypothesis that providing additional energy reserves to the elderly brain improves a variety of cognitive activities. They also provide further evidence of the roles that glucose and insulin metabolism plays in cognition and memory," said Dr. Lauren Costantini, Accera's vice president of clinical development. "As in our earlier successful clinical studies in Alzheimer's disease, Ketasyn was well tolerated by subjects in the AAMI study and we are encouraged by the strong efficacy data."

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel, multi-center trial was conducted at six centers in the United States. One hundred fifty- nine subjects diagnosed with AAMI received either Ketasyn or placebo for 90 days followed by a two-week washout period. Mean age in this study was 65. Subjec
'/>"/>