Unresolved Problems in Neuroscience Drug Development

Chair: Amir Kalali, MD
Topic Leads: Adam Butler, Gary Sachs, MD

This session will feature a couple of yes/no questions where there are a lot of data and even more opinions to support either yes or no response.  These will be discussed in a point-counterpoint manner.  Audience participation is welcome.  The first topic is around whether amyloid remains a viable target for neurodegenerative diseases.  There have been a few reported failures with compounds that inhibit or limit amyloid, on the other hand supportive data remain strong.  Dr. Jim Hendrix from the Alzheimer’s Association Global Science Initiatives will argue in favor of continued pursuit of amyloid, and Michael Gold from AbbVie will argue in favor of its demise.  The second topic is around whether increasing sample sizes in clinical trials affords greater precision in detecting treatment effects.   Another way of stating the question is whether bigger studies are better?  Stephen Brannan of Karuna Pharmaceuticals will argue against. Dr. Andrew Potter of the FDA will also give perspective.