The world is “on the cusp” of the first generation of treatments for Alzheimer’s disease after, slowed down the decline of cognitive function in the brain by 35 per cent while curbing deterioration in its ability to go about its everyday tasks by 40 per cent, according to a Phase 3 clinical trial – the latest and most comprehensive tests a new drug must pass before it can be sold to the public.
Dr Richard Oakley, associate director of research at the Alzheimer’s Society in the UK, said: “After 20 years with no new Alzheimer’s drugs, we now have two potential new drugs in just 12 months – and for the first time, drugs that seem to slow the progression of disease. This could be the beginning of the end of Alzheimer’s disease.”
“The treatment effect is modest, as is the case for many first-generation drugs, and there are risks of serious side effects that need to be fully scrutinised before donenemab can be marketed and used. Furthermore, participants on donanemab experienced a 39 per cent lower risk of progressing to the next stage of disease compared to placebo, according to Eli Lilly.