Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, a general term for the loss of memory, language, and other thinking abilities.
Brian B. Bettencourt | Toronto Star | beautiful pictures
An Alzheimer’s drug trial has been hailed as a “new era” in the battle to find a cure for dementia.
Results from the clinical trial showed that the drug lecanemab removed clumps of protein – called beta amyloid – that had built up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, a general term for loss of memory, language, and other thinking abilities severe enough to interfere with daily life.
The findings are billed as a major breakthrough in researchers’ decades-long effort to tackle the debilitating disease.
However, the report’s authors warn that the drug is most effective in people with earlier-stage disease and that more trials are needed to determine its long-term effects.
“Lecanemab reduces markers of amyloid in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and leads to a moderate decline in cognitive and functional measures,” the researchers wrote in the study published in the journal Neurology. New England Journal of Medicine.
“Longer trials are warranted to determine the efficacy and safety of lecanemab in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease,” it added.
‘A big step forward’
The trial was conducted on 1,795 volunteers with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease over the course of 18 months.
Half were given a biweekly infusion of lecanemab – an antibody that tells the immune system to clear out amyloid – while the other half were given a placebo.
The results showed that the decline in memory and mental agility slowed by 27% in the patients taking lecanemab.
These exciting findings represent an important step forward for dementia research and may herald a new era for people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Susan Kohlhaas
Research director, Alzheimer’s Research UK
Importantly, the drug removed enough amyloid protein that patients did not have enough evidence of Alzheimer’s disease to qualify for the trial.
The Alzheimer’s Study UK described the results as a “major step forward” in reducing cognitive decline in patients.
“These exciting findings represent an important step forward in dementia research and may herald a new era for people with Alzheimer’s disease. This is the first time a drug has been shown to be effective. both reduced disease in the brain and slowed memory decline in clinical trials,” said Research Director Dr. Susan Kohlhaas.
However, she cautions that the adverse side effects of the drug suggest it is not a miracle cure.
“Lecanemab is associated with serious side effects and it is important for regulators to understand the drug’s safety profile before it is fully authorized,” she added.
Risk of serious side effects
The findings were presented at the Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Trials conference in San Francisco on Tuesday. They tracked the earlier fall release of top results from drug makers Eisai and Biogen.
Shares of Eisai drops more than 6% Tuesday, and Biological about 3.7%after a report that a 65-year-old woman died of bleeding after enrolling in a lecanemab trial.
It is unclear whether the death was directly related to the drug. The woman was given an additional medicine called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) to remove blood clots caused by bleeding.
Eisai said in a statement on Monday that all available safety information showed that lecanemab therapy was not associated with an increased risk of death overall, and added that they were unable to provide any information. about specific patients “to protect patient privacy.”
However, it marks the second report of death from the trial. An 80-year-old man who participated in the trial and was also taking blood thinners died in June.
US health regulators are currently evaluating the results of the clinical trial and will soon decide whether lecanemab can be approved for wider use.
Eisai and Biogen plan to begin the approval process in other countries next year.
