Alector and GSK announced on Wednesday that they had received "breakthrough therapy" status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for their experimental drug for frontotemporal dementia, a decision likely to accelerate its time to market.

Latozinemab is a monoclonal antibody designed to modulate the creation of progranulin, a protein that regulates the brain's immune activity and plays a role in the onset of several neurodegenerative diseases such as frontotemporal dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Although it remains relatively rare, with between 50,000 and 60,000 people affected in the United States and around 110,000 in the European Union, frontotemporal dementia is considered one of the most common forms of early-onset dementia.

Following this announcement, GSK shares were up 0.6% on Wednesday on the London Stock Exchange, while Alector shares gained over 2% in New York.

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