Researchers conducting clinical trials of a new drug to fight Alzheimer’s disease have described the approval of this drug, which slows the progression of the disease, as a “historic step”.
This breakthrough came after decades of failed attempts and raised hopes among experts that it would pave the way for treatments that could ultimately lead to a cure for this, which is considered one of the most important public health problems, as it affects more of 40 million people worldwide.
licanimab
Clinical trials of the drug “Likanimab”, developed by two American and Japanese companies, have encouraged the researchers.
This drug has also shown its ability to reduce the decline in overall mental capacity of Alzheimer’s patients by 27 per cent in 18 months – a modest but important result, according to the British newspaper “The Guardian”.
Licanib is an antibody treatment that removes clots of amyloid-beta that build up in the brain.
First drug
For his part, Bart de Strober, director of the Dementia Research Institute at University College London, said: “This is the first drug that provides a real treatment option for Alzheimer’s patients.”
“Although the clinical benefits appear somewhat limited, they are expected to become more pronounced over time,” Strober added.
The results of the clinical trials involving 1,800 patients were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The scientists also found that lekanmab, when given by drip into a vein every two weeks, slowed memory decline by 27% over 18 months.
new era
In turn, Nick Fox, professor of clinical neuroscience and director of the Dementia Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles, said: “I think it heralds a new era for Alzheimer’s.” He stressed that this era comes after 20 years of serious work on amyloid immunotherapies by scientists.
Furthermore, the positive results of this drug are expected to lead to a new generation of drugs that provide better control of Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr Richard Oakley, from Alzheimer’s UK, said the findings could be a ‘game changer’.
Alzheimer’s – expressive
He also continued: “There is still a long way to go before we can see likanib available… We must not forget that likanib can only be given to people with early stage Alzheimer’s disease who have amyloid in their brains, which means people with other types of dementia, or in the later stages of Alzheimer’s disease, may not benefit from this drug.”
The discovery comes after decades of failure in the field and has encouraged experts to say that Alzheimer’s disease – which affects 30 million people worldwide – is treatable.
Another Biogen-developed drug called Aduhelm, which also targets amyloid plaques, raised a lot of hope in 2021 by being the first drug approved in the United States against the disease since 2003.
But it also caused controversy, as the United States Medicines Agency disagreed with the opinion of a panel of experts who believed the treatment had not been sufficiently shown to be effective during clinical trials. The agency later limited its use to people with mild cases of the disease.
