Table 3.

Glycosaminoglycans and Mimetics Under Development for the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

	HF0402 (C3)	Ateroid®	AlzhemedTM
Chemistry	Very low molecular weight glycosaminoglycan	Glycosaminoglycan polysulfate	3-amino-1-propanesulfonic acid (tramiprosate)
Administration	iv, sc, po	po	po
Pharmacology	Alzheimer’s disease, protection against neuronal cell death, neuronal repair, prevention of amyloid peptide- induced toxicity in the brain via a number of sites of activity, growth factor-like neurotrophism	Multi-infarct dementia, ischemic vascular dementia, old-age dementia, the behav- ioral effects may be due to normalizing influence on dopamine neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens	Alzheimer’s disease, modify the course of disease through anti-amyloid activity: binding to soluble amyloid beta protein, preventing and stopping the formation and the deposition of amyloid fibrils in the brain, and reducing the amyloid-induced toxicity on neuronal and brain inflammatory cells
Adverse effects	Little anticoagulant effects, well tolerated in healthy volunteers	Well tolerated in dementia patients; vital signs and laboratory measures did not show clinically significant changes	Well tolerated in patients; most frequent adverse events were nausea and vomiting
Clinical trial	Single dose, Phase I study planned	Marketed in Europe and Asia	Phase III clinical trials
Website	http://www.hunter-fleming.com/	http://www.cornelliconsulting.it	http://www.neurochem.com