On his Twitter account, the president noted that "science and innovation in Cuba continue to contribute to the country's development" in reference to this important research.

Havana, July 7 (RHC)-- Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel highlighted the advances made by Cuban scientists against Alzheimer's disease after announcing the start of clinical trials of the drug NeuralCIM (NeuroEPO).

On his Twitter account, the president said that "science and innovation in Cuba continue to contribute to the country's development" in reference to this important research.

As reported the day before in Havana, the studies related to the neuroprotective drug NeuralCIM (trade name of NeuroEPO) continue with the beginning of consultations for the classification of patients who will be part of the Phase III clinical trial of the drug.

The first deputy director of the Center for Molecular Immunology (CIM), Kalet León, informed that the screening of potential candidates is already underway with a view to the start, later on, of the Phase III study in the capital city, and later on, a Phase IV will be initiated in other provinces of the country.

The NeuroEPO molecule, an erythropoietin with a low sialic acid content very similar to the one naturally produced in the brain, proved to have beneficial effects in patients with mild and moderate Alzheimer's disease, after the first clinical trials carried out in the country.

According to Teresita Rodriguez, Ph.D., the product manager, the formulation showed a low level of adverse effects, while promoting the formation of new blood vessels and the expansion of neurotransmitters, preventing cell death and having an anti-inflammatory effect, among other benefits.

For her part, science doctor Leslie Pérez commented that for these new phases of the studies, the Cuban product will be compared with the drug Donepezil, approved by the U.S. regulatory agency.

In Havana, in addition to the clinical characterization, the patients participating in the trial will be assessed from the molecular point of view, through the determination of beta-amyloid proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid, whose accumulation in the brain is identified as a precursor of Alzheimer's disease.

In the capital, he added, it is planned to study 413 people, while in the rest of the country, where the personnel who will conduct the Phase IV clinical trial are being trained, they hope to include 1,456.

NeuralCIM, which already has a conditional registration granted by the national regulatory authority, also has the potential to be used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease, Ataxias and Acute Cerebral Ischemia, according to its managers.

The drug, created by the CIM, is administered nasally and seeks to restore the imbalance caused by neurodegenerative diseases in the brain and stabilize its physiological functioning.