Published on May 04, 2023 at 9:10 a.m.
The researchers observed a 40% drop in the loss of autonomy to carry out certain daily tasks such as doing the accounts, driving or carrying on a conversation – © Mohamed Hassan / Pixabay
The American laboratory Eli Lilly has announced promising results for a new drug aimed at slowing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. The treatment could enter the US market as early as the end of the quarter.
Have we finally entered the era of Alzheimer’s treatment? This neurodegenerative disease leads to a progressive disappearance of neurons in the regions of the brain that control memory, language, reasoning and even attention.
Alzheimer’s has defeated science for many years, but if it remains incurable for the moment, a new treatment to slow the progression of the disease could soon see the light of day.
The pharmaceutical group Eli Lilly has developed a drug, donanemab, which is showing initial promising results. This molecule attacks the protein called beta-amyloid, which forms plaques on the neurons of Alzheimer’s patients and gradually destroys them, leading to cognitive disorders.
At the end of an 18-month clinical trial, carried out on 1,200 patients aged 60 to 85 whose disease had not yet reached an advanced stage, the laboratory claims to have observed a 36% reduction in cognitive decline in patients taking donanemab.
Soon a marketing authorization?
Even more encouraging, the researchers observed a 40% drop in the loss of autonomy to carry out certain daily tasks such as doing the accounts, driving or holding a conversation.
Faced with these encouraging results, the laboratory announced its intention to submit a marketing authorization application before the end of the quarter in the United States. No date has been advanced for the rest of the world, but Eli Lilly promises to do “as quickly as possible”.
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Some scientists nevertheless want to temper, because if donanemab seems promising, it also has serious side effects: cerebral edemas and hemorrhages have been reported in several patients and three participants in the clinical trial have died. “When the full results are published” in a scientific journal, “we can start to carefully assess the risks and benefits”, nuances Charles Marshall, of Queen Mary University of London.
If approved, donanemab would become the third treatment for Alzheimer’s disease to emerge in a matter of months. Two other molecules, aducanumab and lecanemab, obtained marketing authorization respectively in June 2021 and last January.
2023-05-04 07:39:11
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