'Possible Key to Alzheimer Medication'

LEIDEN, Netherlands, October 26, 2010 - Dutch researchers have discovered a possible key which might result in a
medicine for Alzheimer's disease. "We have found brain cells which become
extra active at a time when there are still no visible symptoms of the
disease. Nevertheless, people are already ill", says brain researcher Dick
Swaab. "It would be fantastic if we could simulate this activation process
through medicines once the disease has progressed." The findings of the Dutch
scientists, under the auspices of research institute TI Pharma, are due to be
published in the reputable scientific magazine Brain.

Scientists examined the brain tissue of 49 deceased patients, in various
stages of the disease. In the very earliest stage of the disease, patients
did not appear to have any memory impairments or other symptoms of
Alzheimer's disease. Under the microscope, however, signs of Alzheimer's are
visible. Swaab: "The brain itself appears to compensate for the disease
process; nearly 500 genes in the front part of the parahippocampal cortex
then become extra active. These genes ensure that nerve cells are better able
to communicate with each other, allowing people to continue to function well.
As soon as these genes become less active, the memory impairments become
apparent."

According to Swaab, this discovery is an important step on the road to
finding effective medication. "We see these temporarily active genes as a
pointer to a medicine. Once the disease has progressed to a more advanced
stage, we can see whether we can reactivate the brain cells using medicines."
Swaab adds that a medicine for Alzheimer's will only be a possibility for
future generations.

Alzheimer's is the most common cause of dementia. Between sixty and
seventy percent of patients suffer from this form of dementia. In Alzheimer's
disease, the nerve cells in the brain and the connections between these cells
break down, preventing the brain from functioning well. There are an
estimated quarter of a million patients in the Netherlands; this number will
double in the next forty years.

The research to which among others neuroscientists Dick Swaab, Joost
Verhaagen and Koen Bossers from the Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences
contribute is funded by Top Instituut Pharma. Other partners are the
Netherlands Brain Bank, DNage and health care organization Abbott.

About Top Institute Pharma

Top Institute Pharma (TI Pharma) is a public-private partnership in which
the academic and business world work together on innovative,
multidisciplinary research targeted toward the improvement of the development
of socially valuable medicines. The project portfolio is based on the
clinical areas as described in the "Priority Medicines" report from the World
Health Organization (WHO). These projects create knowledge that is important
for the better, faster and less expensive development of valuable new
medicines. For more information, please visit www.tipharma.com.

For more information: Ingeborg van der Heijden, Communications Manager, TI Pharma, +31-(0)6-46122482 or +31-(0)71-3322036.