The emotional, psychological and financial burden from Alzheimer's disease is extracting a significant toll in countries such as the US, where deaths from the disease increased 46% from 2000 to 2006 and annual costs for care exceed $170 billion, much of that paid by Medicare and Medicaid. Even with the vast unmet medical need, big drugmakers are anxious about spending hundreds of millions of dollars in an area so clinically ill-defined. Adding to the anxiety is growing doubt about the field's most intensely investigated target and frustrating progress toward the validation of biomarkers and tools that could save precious time and money.
Uncertainty is also exacerbating a venture funding drought. Start-ups are eager to tap into the coffers of foundations and governments,...
