A new drug, donanemab, has been hailed as a turning point in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease after it was found to slow the progression of the disease by up to 35 per cent. The drug works by removing a protein called amyloid that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s, and has been shown to slow clinical decline by 35.1 per cent in people with early-stage disease whose brain scans showed low or medium levels of a protein called tau. When the results were combined for people who had different levels of this protein, there was a 22.3 per cent slowing in disease progression.
The results of the phase 3 trial, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and presented to the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam, provide further confirmation that removing amyloid from the brain can change the course of Alzheimer’s, and may help people affected by this devastating disease if they’re treated at the right time. The study, which examined almost 1,800 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s, found that 47 per cent of people taking the drug who had early-stage disease and low or medium levels of tau were able to stall the disease for a year.
Eli Lilly and Company, the manufacturer of donanemab, said that some people taking the drug would be able to finish the course of treatment in six months once their amyloid plaque cleared. Treatment with donanemab reduced amyloid plaque on average by 84 per cent at 18 months, compared with a 1 per cent decrease among people in the study who were taking a placebo drug.
While the results are promising, researchers did find that among a small number of people in the study, there were some serious side effects such as brain swelling. However, the company said it is ready to work with health regulators in the UK as well as the NHS and Government on the “appropriate regulatory next steps.”
donanemab
The success of donanemab has been welcomed by charities and experts in the field, who say that it could herald a new era for Alzheimer’s disease treatments. Alzheimer’s Research UK said that the results mark a turning point in the fight against Alzheimer’s, while the Alzheimer’s Society said that treatments like donanemab could one day mean that the condition could be likened to other long-term ailments such as asthma or diabetes.
Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research and innovation at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “This is truly a turning point in the fight against Alzheimer’s and science is proving that it is possible to slow down the disease. Treatments like donanemab are the first steps towards a future where Alzheimer’s disease could be considered a long-term condition alongside diabetes or asthma.”
The results of the trial come after another drug, lecanemab, was found to reduce memory decline among patients with early-stage disease. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has already started its appraisal work on donanemab, and the health spending watchdog in England is assessing whether the drug can be used in the NHS.
