Can Pfizer's Viagra Help In Alzheimer's? Cleveland Clinic Study Shows Potential

From the Cleveland Clinic, one of the teams reports it has found a potential Alzheimer’s treatment in one of the world’s most famous drugs - Pfizer Inc’s (NYSE:PFE) erectile dysfunction treatment Viagra (sildenafil).

• The Cleveland Clinic researchers screened a database of 7 million patients and found that Viagra is associated with a 69% lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. 
• Further studies using patient-derived stem cell models demonstrated that sildenafil targets tau, one of the proteins implicated in Alzheimer’s.
• The Cleveland Clinic team used a gene-mapping network to screen about 1,600 FDA-approved drugs.
• As part of their analysis, the Cleveland Clinic researchers compared Viagra to four other drugs - the blood pressure treatments losartan and diltiazem, and diabetes medicines metformin and glimepiride. 
• Using the stem cell models, scientists discovered that Viagra increases the growth of brain cells and lowers the “hyperphosphorylation” of tau.
• “Notably, we found that sildenafil use reduced the likelihood of Alzheimer’s in individuals with coronary artery disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes, all of which are comorbidities significantly associated with risk of the disease, as well as in those without,” said co-author Feixiong Cheng, a researcher in Cleveland Clinic’s Genomic Medicine Institute.
• Cheng added that the Cleveland Clinic is now planning a phase 2 trial of Viagra in Alzheimer’s patients. 
• Price Action: PFE shares are down 4.58% at $51.78 during the market session on the last check Monday.