John Alam

Chief Executive Officer, CervoMed

Search every verified John Alam interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. John Alam, co-founder and CEO of EIP Pharma, discussed his company's work on Alzheimer's disease drug development in a November 2019 podcast episode. He described EIP Pharma's approach as focusing on reducing certain types of inflammation to address synaptic dysfunction, which he contrasted with the more common strategy of targeting amyloid beta plaque buildup. Alam detailed that the company's drug, Nepflamapamod, was originally tested at Vertex in the 1990s and is designed to inhibit P38 MAP kinase alpha, a target that researchers have linked to inflammation and neuronal stress. Alam reported on the results of a Phase 2b clinical trial, noting that the study did not demonstrate the improvement seen in earlier Phase 2A data, but he highlighted positive findings on target engagement and proof of mechanism. He stated that the trial achieved a secondary objective by showing an effect on phospho-tau and t-tau in spinal fluid, which he described as biomarkers of neurodegeneration. Alam attributed this result to the drug's expected mechanism of action on the disease, framing it as validation of the underlying hypothesis and mechanism, and suggested that future progress might require combination therapies.