New wonder drug hailed as a ‘game changer’ in battle against Alzheimer’s
Trial on humans found the treatment destroyed a 'significant' number of plaques that develop in the brains of patients
A NEW wonder-drug that halted Alzheimer’s in its tracks in early trials has been hailed as the “most promising” treatment yet for the disease.
Preliminary tests in humans found the drug destroyed a “significant” number of the harmful plaques that develop in the brains of patients.
The effect was greater among those given higher doses, suggesting for the first time that the drug really was responsible for the improvement.
At the higher doses, removal of the plaques – known as beta-amyloid – was also associated with slower mental decline.
Scientists have long known that removing plaques could halt or slow Alzheimer’s progression.
But all attempts to target it with drugs have previously met with failure.
Experts say the findings could be a “game changer” if the results are repeated in a larger study.
Scientists conducted a trial to evaluate the safety of monthly injections in patients displaying early symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, such as memory problems.
A total of 165 patients received monthly infusions of either aducanumab or a placebo “dummy drug” for one year.
After 54 weeks of treatment, scans showed that levels of beta-amyloid had been significantly reduced in the brains of patients given the drug.
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Higher doses were associated with greater reduction, the researchers reported in the journal Nature.
Dr David Reynolds, chief scientific officer at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “These results provide tantalising evidence that a new class of drug to treat the disease may be on the horizon.”
The study was not designed to assess aducanumab’s clinical effectiveness, which will now have to be tested in larger trials.
Recruiting of patients for these experiments, including participants from the UK, has already started.
Lead researcher Dr Alfred Sandrock, from biotech company Biogen, said: “These results justify further development of aducanumab for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Richard Morris, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Edinburgh, said: “The conclusion that this study supports further development of aducanumab is fully justified and the importance of this first step cannot be understated.
“Let’s keep our fingers crossed for success in the next steps.”
David Allsop, Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Lancaster, said: “These findings could be a ‘game changer’ if the effects on memory decline can be confirmed in more extensive follow-on studies.”
And Dr James Pickett, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Society, said: “These results are the most detailed and promising that we’ve seen for a drug that aims to modify the underlying causes of Alzheimer’s disease.”
The last Alzheimer’s drug licensed in the UK became available more than a decade ago.
Current treatments can reduce symptoms to some extent but doctors have nothing that can halt or slow progression of the disease.
An estimated 850,000 people in the UK suffer from some form of dementia, most having Alzheimer’s.
This is expected to swell to more than a million by 2025.
Experts say some side effects seen in the Phase I study, such as headaches, were “concerning” and would have to be addressed.