Since its inception in 2012, Part the Cloud has raised more than $65 million accelerating 60 high risk, high reward research projects thanks to our generous supporters and community. Part the Cloud researchers have gone on to receive more than $940 million in follow-on funding.

A recent paper published in Alzheimer's & Dementia®: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association shared promising results from a Phase I clinical trial of Lomecel-B for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Lomecel-B contains a special type of cell derived from young healthy adults, called medicinal signaling cells (MSCs), that the study supported was safe to administer to individuals with mild AD.  Disease-related changes were also measured in those receiving treatment compared to those who did not receive the treatment; however, the small sample size required of the phase 1 safety trial necessitates confirmation of these early results in larger next-step trials. The study team is now advancing this program to investigate the clinical potential of Lomecel-B in a larger population, and a Phase II trial is currently underway.

Authors include individuals from Part the Cloud awardee Longeveron Inc., including co-founder Joshua Hare, Anthony Oliva, Jr. (senior author), Kevin Ramdas and Lisa Mcclain-Moss. Read the full research publication here.

Nine Part the Cloud-funded researchers shared research at AAN, including:

• The latest advancements from the Part the Cloud-funded study, “Advancing Allopregnanolone as a Regenerative Therapeutic for Alzheimer's, Roberta Diaz Brinton, Ph.D., University of Arizona, presented more data on aging and dementia and the imaging outcomes of Phase 1b/2a clinical trial of allopregnanolone as a regenerative therapeutic option for Alzheimer’s Disease.

• During his plenary session, Adam L. Boxer, M.D., Ph.D.,  provided insights into tau protein as a therapeutic target and biomarker for neurological disease. Dr. Boxer is co-primary investigator with another Part the Cloud awardee, Peter Ljubenkov, Ph.D., and they are investigating treatment options for frontotemporal dementia. Read more about the Part the Cloud-funded project, Veri-T: A Phase I Placebo-Controlled Trial of Verdiperstat in FTLD-TDP.

• Thomas Wisniewski, M.D., New York University School of Medicine, is funded by Part the Cloud to explore a compound to address innate immunity in early Alzheimer’s disease. At AAN, Dr. Wisniewski spoke about the plasma biomarkers of neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation in hospitalized COVID-19 patients with and without neurological symptoms. This added to the findings that were first presented at AAIC21, COVID-19 Associated with Long-Term Cognitive Dysfunction, Acceleration of Alzheimer’s Symptoms. More data about COVID-19 and blood biomarkers were recently published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: the Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, “Comparison of serum neurodegenerative biomarkers among hospitalized COVID-19 patients versus non-COVID subjects with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, or Alzheimer's dementia.”

• Charbel Moussa, Ph.D., Georgetown University, presented his safety and tolerability data in individuals with Dementia with Lewy bodies from the Part the Cloud-funded study, Bosutinib Effects on Safety, Biomarkers and Clinical Outcomes in DLB, which he also shared at AD/PD.

• Additional poster presentations with updates on the ongoing PTC-funded studies include:

  • Sudha Seshadri, M.D., University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio: Phase 2 Trial of Rapamycin for Alzheimer's Disease

  • Alireza Faridar, M.D., The Methodist Hospital Research Institute:  Regulatory T cells as a novel therapeutic target in Alzheimer’s Disease

Part the Cloud is a movement to transform progress in Alzheimer's research by investing in researchers that are advancing the field and providing valuable contributions to advance potential preventions, diagnosis and therapies.

Last month, the AD/PD™ 2022 International Conference on Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Diseases and related neurological disorders took place in Barcelona, Spain. Approximately 3,000 scientists and clinicians from around the world attend AD/PD (2,000 in-person and 1,300 virtual), which has historically only been held in the EU.

AD/PD provides an intimate setting for researchers to present their work and collaborate with other scientists. Most of these experts and leaders have been supported by the Alzheimer’s Association through grant funding and ISTAART leadership opportunities. Part the Cloud awardee Miia Kivipelto, M.D., Ph.D., presented her findings about resilience and vulnerability factors, risk assessment, prevention and clinical trials, and Frank Longo M.D., Ph.D., and Roberta Brinton, Ph.D., reported on recent progress of their research into specific therapeutic targets. Both research teams are working on the next phase of their clinical trials - Phase II for Dr. Brinton and Phase III for Dr. Longo. As previously mentioned, Charbel Moussa, M.D., Ph.D., whose Part the Cloud grant allows him to explore repurposing an FDA-approved leukemia drug, also shared his findings at AD/PD.  Part the Cloud was instrumental in moving these potential treatments through this pipeline.

“The funding (from Part the Cloud) has made it possible to run the first multimodal precision prevention trial combining lifestyle and drug interventions for dementia prevention.”

            -Miia Kivipelto, M.D., Ph.D.

On April 7, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a national policy for coverage of aducanumab (brand name Aduhelm™) and any future monoclonal antibodies directed against amyloid approved by the FDA with an indication for use in treating Alzheimer’s disease.

"The decision by CMS is a step backward for families facing Alzheimer's disease," said Maria C. Carrillo, Ph.D., Alzheimer’s Association chief science officer. "Years of increased research funding has led to more progress and innovation than ever before, but today's decision may halt this progress as developers question if there is a pathway forward to coverage."

Read the Alzheimer’s Association statement