The second indication under the central nervous system therapeutic program will involve drugs to treat Alzheimer's Disease. Again, the growing elderly population and the lack of therapeutic options to treat mild and moderate symptoms related to Alzheimer's Disease highlight the urgent and critical importance of this effort.

As with the other indications being pursued under the central nervous system therapeutic program, drugs designed to regulate and/or reverse the neurodegenerative signaling cascade are likely to be of great benefit for neuronal protection and preservation of brain function. The neurodegenerative signaling cascade is complex and agents that function to inhibit and/or reverse it are often referred to as neuroprotectants. There are multiple points at which neuroprotectants may function within the neurodegenerative signaling cascade including antagonism of glutamate receptors, blocking of Ca⁺⁺ or Na⁺ channels, Ca⁺⁺ chelation, free radical scavenging, inhibition of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, suppression of apoptosis, blocking of the inflammatory process, etc. A number of compounds representing each of these classes have entered clinical trials, most with little to no positive outcome. However, most of these compounds function via a single mechanism and current theories suggest that efficacious neuroprotection will require the use of either a combination of these compounds or novel agents that can affect multiple steps in the neurodegenerative signaling cascade.