A seaweed-based drug has been approved by health authorities in China for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, the first new medicine for the disorder in 17 years.
In a statement, the drug safety agency of China has announced the approval of the seaweed-based drug, called Oligomannate, which can be used for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.
However, the approval awarded to the drug is conditional, meaning that while it can already be sold during additional clinical trials, it will be under strict monitoring and the approval could be withdrawn if any safety issues emerge.
The drug development team led by Geng Meiyu at the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said in September that the relatively low incidence of Alzheimer's among people who consumed the seaweed regularly piqued their interest to study it.
In a paper published in the journal Cell Research, Geng's team discussed how a sugar found within the seaweed was able to suppress certain bacteria contained in the gut that can cause neural degeneration and inflammation of the brain, which leads to Alzheimer's.
This was confirmed during a clinical trial conducted by Shanghai-based pharmaceutical company Green Valley, which will be introducing the drug to the market.
The study, which involved 818 patients, revealed that Oligomannate can significantly improve cognitive function among people with Alzheimer's in as fast as four weeks.
Neurologist Philip Scheltens, who advises Green Valley and heads the Alzheimer Center Amsterdam, said: "These results advance our understanding of the mechanisms that play a role in Alzheimer's disease and imply that the gut microbiome is a valid target for the development of therapies."
Comparing the drug to acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, the existing treatment for mild to severe Alzheimer's, Vincent Mok of the neurology division at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, pointed out that the new drug showed "encouraging results".
Mok added: "It is just as effective but it has fewer side effects. It will also open up new avenues for Alzheimer's research, focusing on the gut microbiome."
