First drug shown to slow Alzheimer’s could be available in six months
THE FIRST drug shown to slow Alzheimer’s could be available within six months.
Patients given aducanumab in trials experienced a boost to their memory and language skills.
Regulators in the US have now accepted it for “priority review” with a decision expected in March. If approved, it would give hope to 500,000 British sufferers.
Current Alzheimer’s drugs only treat the symptoms, rather than the underlying cause.
Aducanumab works by helping to clear build-ups of toxic proteins which damage brain cells. The therapy successfully slowed dementia decline, allowing patients to continue living independently.
Samantha Benham-Hermetz, from Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “People affected by Alzheimer’s disease have waited a long time for a life-changing treatment and today’s announcement offers hope that one could be in sight.”
The US Food and Drug Administration will decide if there is sufficient evidence that the treatment is safe and effective. UK regulators will likely follow. Aducanumab makers Biogen and Eisai had initially scrapped treatment after trials failed.
But analysis found patients with early stage Alzheimer’s had a “statistically significant reduction of clinical decline” on high doses. And the drug did not cause serious symptoms in three out of four patients.
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
The damage caused to the brain by Alzheimer's disease causes the symptoms commonly associated with dementia.
Indeed, it is the most common trigger for dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease is named after the doctor who first described it in medical literature, Alois Alzheimer.
A hallmark of the disease is the build-up of amyloid beta proteins in the brain, to cause plaques.
This results in the loss of connections between nerve cells in the brain, and ultimately the death of those cells and a loss of brain tissue.
Those people living with Alzheimer’s also have a shortage of some key chemicals in the brain, which help transmit messages.
A lack of these chemicals means the brain is unable to process some messages as it would previously.
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Dr Haruo Naito, from Eisai, said: “Reducing clinical decline and maintaining the ability to live an independent life for as long as possible are things that people living with Alzheimer’s disease and their families value in a potential treatment.
“If aducanumab is approved, we expect that it will make a difference in the lives of people living with Alzheimer’s disease. We believe that this historic milestone is one step towards creating a paradigm shift in treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, a public health issue for aging societies.”
Priority review is reserved for drugs that could offer major advances in treatments or that provide treatment where none existed.
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