Invex Therapeutics (ASX:IXC) has had success simulating the use of Exenatide to improve cell survival in a 3D ‘human brain model’ of Alzheimer’s disease.

While this data is entirely based on a drug being used on a simulated ‘microtissue’ of the human brain in what is more or less a petri dish (which then informs a computerised 3D model,) there are ‘associations’ noted elsewhere that make exenatide a drug of interest in the treatment of Alzheimer’s.

“The data generated by the collaboration has yielded important new information for Invex as it relates to the applicability of Exenatide in alternative neurological diseases, including AD,” Invex wrote in a release on Monday.

“This is the first time a GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA), namely Exenatide has shown evidence of benefit in a three-dimensional human brain model in AD.”

Exenatide is ultimately a diabetes drug. It plays around with insulin in the body more than anything else, but at least one study has found the drug could help patients with AD who previously took the drug for diabetes.

Worth noting is the drug doesn’t cure the disease by any means but is believed to make resilient the physical hardwiring of the brain in those who develop AD.

That same outcome was underscored in Invex’s early-stage findings reported on Monday.

Collaborating with a private company called Tessara which develops a computerised AD-affected human brain model, a low dose of exenatide was shown to “increase cell viability by approximately 24% versus controls under similar… conditions experienced in AD patients leading to cell death.”

A ‘moderate dose,’ meanwhile, resulted in a 45% boost in cell viability in conditions replicating ferroptosis, a recent medical term for a type of cell death in the human body that also links up with ‘brain plaque’ buildup seen in AD patients.

At this stage – the nanocap company’s share prices remained flat on Monday, which may indicate investors want to see more numbers.

IXC last traded at 7.4cps.

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