There are over half a million Canadians living with dementia. Treatment of this devastating disorder is challenging as there are no drugs available to cure it. Developing a new drug, running clinical trials, and acquiring approval from regulatory agencies is expensive and time-consuming: the process can take decades and cost upwards of 4 billion dollars.
To avoid these barriers, Praveen Nekkar, a professor at the School of Pharmacy at Waterloo, is exploring drug repurposing – the practice of determining new therapeutic uses for drugs that are already approved by regulatory agencies. Nekkar and his group examined a class of drugs called selective serotonin uptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These drugs are typically used in conditions like depression. Nekkar’s team found that they can also play a role in preventing the progression of Alzheimer’s.