In this episode, we highlight Forum Discussion 07 from the AD/PD™ 2025 International Conference — “Challenges and Opportunities for Anti-Tau Therapies in Clinical Trials – How Can We Make Hopes Come True?”

The session was moderated by Prof. Manfred Windisch (Austria) and Prof. Luc Buée (France), featuring expert insights from Prof. Virginia Lee (USA), Dr. Toby Ferguson (USA), Dr. Larisa Reyderman (USA), Dr. Szofia Bullain (Switzerland), and Dr. Adam Fleisher (USA).

Key themes explored in this discussion include:

• The scientific and clinical complexities of targeting tau pathology across the continuum of Alzheimer’s disease

• The importance of early therapeutic intervention and matching treatment modalities—immunotherapies, RNA-based approaches, small molecules—to the stage of tau progression

• Longstanding and emerging perspectives on tau biology, including:– The structural insights into tau filament formation,– The implications of core tau domains, and– The relevance of astrocytic markers such as GFAP

• Industry and academic collaboration on next-generation programs, including Biogen’s E2814 and other early-phase anti-tau candidates

• The ethical and scientific challenges of selecting the right patient populations, especially as precision medicine reshapes clinical trial expectations

• The need for robust biomarkers to define tau-driven pathology, enable better staging, and support development of more targeted and effective therapies

• Recognition that Alzheimer’s is often a multi-pathology disease, requiring treatment approaches capable of addressing interacting pathways, not only tau

• The importance of broad, well-designed clinical trials to clarify which interventions work best—and for whom

The session concluded on a note of cautious optimism: while anti-tau therapy remains one of the field’s greatest challenges, rapid progress in molecular understanding, biomarker development, and precision medicine is accelerating the path toward meaningful clinical breakthroughs.

This episode is ideal for scientists, clinicians, drug developers, and anyone closely following the evolving landscape of tau-targeted therapies and Alzheimer’s disease research.

This podcast was created using AI to provide a quick and insightful summary of an AD/PD™ 2025 session. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, listeners are encouraged to refer to original conference materials and recordings for detailed information.

The AD/PD™ 2025 International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases and related neurological disorders, took place on April 1-5, 2025, in Vienna Austria.

https://adpd.kenes.com/