Our Alzheimer's Animal (Rat) Model is a scientific tool for the testing of new Alzheimer's (AD) drugs. Designed to be used by pharmaceuticals and scientists, in which a four week treatment of a rat results in its loss of memory and Alzheimer's disease-like brain pathology. This model is ideal to screen Alzheimer's drugs for prevention, stabilization of the disease and cures for Alzheimer's disease, as the model moves swiftly through Alzheimer's disease, starting with the onset of AD symptoms and finishing with Alzheimer's-like memory loss.

One of the limiting factors in screening for the compounds displaying neuroprotective properties is the lack of an animal model allowing for the rapid evaluation of the efficacy of the compounds under investigation. In our race to find a way to stop the spread of Alzheimer's disease, we decided to develop an animal model that mimics the human phenotype of Alzheimer's disease pathology. Considering the critical role of beta-amyloid peptide in Alzheimer's disease development, we undertook a non-transgenic approach to induce an "Alzheimer's like" neuropathology in rat, in which a proprietary formulation is administered directly in the brain of the rat producing a microenvironment resembling that which may occur in Alzheimer's disease brain. Four weeks treatment of the rats with the solution induced memory impairment accompanied by increased hyperphosphorylated Tau protein levels in CSF, both part of the Alzheimer's disease phenotype seen in patients. Further histopathology of the rat brains indicated the presence of neuritic plaques, tangles, neuronal loss and gliosis, typical features of postmortem Alzheimer's disease human brain specimens. Thus, this animal model rat in addition to provide us with the means to rapidly screen and develop therapeutic and diagnostic tools for controlling the disease it might also be a useful approach to unveil the mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease. Our Alzheimer's Rat Model is being validated by Samaritan for use to test the efficacy of SP compounds and is due for publication. It is also expected to be validated by other academic scientists specializing in this area of research in the near future.

New techniques and methodologies to produce animal models provide researchers with ways to more efficiently study human disease, and the therapeutics that hold promise for those diseases. The use of engineered animal models to explore the selection of appropriate drug targets holds great promise in speeding the development of valuable therapies. These models provide effective ways to test new drug compounds, as well as aid in the weeding out of drug failures; 75 percent of the cost of drug development, is lost on drugs that fail late in the research process.