Patents on Potential Drugs to Treat Alzheimer’s Disease: Special Emphasis on Small Peptides

The primary objective of this article is to review patents and the related scientific work on naturally occurring compounds, heterocyclic compounds and small peptides that are being explored for their utility for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In this review, a special emphasis is given to the patents, including our patent issued in 2013, on peptides that bind to Aβ. Utility of the peptides that prevent aggregation or those that help in clearance of Aβ is discussed as the latter can be considered as an important arm in combination therapy for AD.