Biogen bets $45M on Ionis' phase 1 Alzheimer's med

Looks like Biogen is going all in on Alzheimer’s disease—the Big Biotech is picking up a tau-targeting treatment from Ionis Pharmaceuticals for $45 million upfront.  Currently in phase 1, the antisense treatment, IONIS-MAPTRx, is designed to cut down on the production of tau proteins in the central nervous system. Formally known as MAPT (microtubule-associated protein tau), these proteins can form tangles in the brain and are thought to cause neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and some types of dementia. However, Alzheimer’s research has focused on tau tangles and amyloid plaques but has not seen a new treatment approved in more than 15 years. Many treatments have shown promise through phase 2 before crashing and burning in phase 3.