The Handoff: Your Week in Neurology News – 9/29/16

The Handoff is a weekly roundup of neurology news covering various developments in subspecialties, the pharmaceutical industry, and the overall state of health care as it affects neurologists. Keep your finger on the pulse of neurology with The Handoff.

– Lundbeck has suffered another Phase 3 failure for its experimental Alzheimer’s drug Lu AE58054. Top line results indicate that treatment with the 5-HT6 receptor antagonist failed to improve cognition and worse, showed no difference from placebo.

– GW Pharma has declared another Phase 3 victory for its cannabidiol drug Epidiolex for the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, reporting a 42% drop in monthly seizures compared to 17% with placebo.

– The journal Neurology has published a poignant editorial by Susan Schneider Williams, spouse of the late Robin Williams, documenting their personal battle with diffuse Lewy Body disease.

– New research out of the Icahn School of Medicine supports a new method of detecting chronic traumatic encephalopathy antemortem.

– Bloomberg BusinessWeek takes an in-depth look at the financial burden of Alzheimer’s disease and how families might best prepare for mounting health care bills.

– Hollywood’s portrayal of brain death is far from the truth, and it may be hurting the decision-making process for real-life families.

– The Epilepsy Foundation has entered into a $16 million partnership with the CDC to help further public awareness, foster workforce competency, and support patient self-management.

– STAT is featuring a great profile on Peter Walter, PhD, principal investigator and founder of the ISRIB molecule, which is being hotly pursued as an integral component of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.

– Watch a demo of Ekso Bionic’s Ekso GT robotic exoskeleton, the first approved for use by stroke patients in the US, and learn how its variable assist software helps create a personalized walking experience.