Trials suggest ‘game-changing’ treatment could be the most powerful weapon yet against dementia
A new drug could halt the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Trials suggest the treatment, called trontinemab, could be the most powerful weapon yet against dementia.
Research will now examine whether the drug should be given to those without any symptoms in order to prevent the disease.
Results presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Toronto found the “game-changing” treatment can clear the devastating plaques associated with Alzheimer’s far more rapidly than any current licensed drug.
Nine in 10 patients prescribed trontinemab experienced amyloid clearance within 28 weeks, meaning visible markers of disease had vanished.
Experts hope these changes will be matched by improvements in memory and functioning, with an 18-month trial of 1,600 patients now under way.
Separate research will examine whether the drug could be given to people without any signs of dementia, in the same way that statins are used to ward off heart disease.
Powerful precise effects at low doses
Trontinemab is one of a class of new medicines aimed at clearing amyloid plaques. The new findings from phase two trials suggest that, in less than seven months, it has outperformed the ability of existing drugs to clear plaques in 18 months.
Experts hope that if given early enough, the drug could save some patients from developing symptoms at all. It has been engineered to more easily cross the blood-brain barrier, meaning it can ensure powerful precise effects at low doses.
The lack of side effects means it could be offered to large populations. This also means it could be offered at a far lower price than current medications, which require intense monitoring, including regular scans.
Experts believe it could become the first Alzheimer’s drug to be funded by the NHS.
Last year, medicines regulators in the UK gave the green light to the first two treatments found to slow progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Both lecanemab and donanemab use monoclonal antibodies to clear amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease. In trials they have been found to slow decline by 27 per cent and 35 per cent respectively, over 18 months. However, the risk of brain swelling and brain bleeds means they need intense monitoring.
‘Very promising evidence’
Prof Jonathan Schott, the chief medical officer at Alzheimer’s Research UK said: “We urgently need a range of treatments for Alzheimer’s that are effective and safe for the people affected by this devastating disease.
“Evidence presented at the Alzheimer’s Association conference in Toronto on trontinemab is very promising, showing that the drug can effectively and rapidly clear amyloid from the brain, seemingly with very few side effects.
