Breakthrough Alzheimer’s Drug Donanemab Slows Cognitive Decline by 35%, Experts Say

Date of update: 17/07/2023 19:06 Date of publication: 17/07/2023 19:05

Health experts say the drug Donanemab represents a turning point in the fight against dementia. Photo: Profimedia

The final results of a clinical trial confirmed that the drug donanemab slows cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients by about 35%. Health experts say this drug represents a turning point in the fight against dementia, they write BBC and The Guardian.

Donanemab works in Alzheimer’s disease, but not in other types of dementia, such as vascular dementia. That’s because it’s designed to eliminate one of the key features of Alzheimer’s disease — a substance called amyloid that builds up in the spaces between brain cells.

Donanemab, made by Eli Lilly, works in the same way as lecanemab – developed by companies Eisai and Biogen, which was shown last year to reduce cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients by 27%.

Health leaders have hailed the drug’s arrival as a “turning point in the fight against Alzheimer’s” that could make the disease as manageable as conditions such as diabetes or asthma.

The final results of the donanemab trial were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and presented Monday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam.

Donanemab may slow Alzheimer’s disease

The study concludes that after 76 weeks of treatment, the drug was able to slow clinical decline by 35.1 percent in people with early-stage Alzheimer’s whose brain scans showed low or medium levels of a protein called tau.

When the results were combined for people who had different levels of this protein, there was a 22.3% slowing of disease progression.

This means that people with this disease could continue to carry out daily tasks, including shopping, looking after the household, managing finances and taking medicines.

The researchers studied nearly 1,800 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s. Half of them received a monthly infusion of donanemab, and the other half received a placebo for 18 months.

In a small number of study participants, there were some serious side effects, such as swelling of the brain.

Also, three deaths in the donanemab group and one in the placebo group were considered ‘treatment-related’.

Eli Lilly has applied for approval for donanemab in the US and will do the same in the UK in the coming weeks, The Guardian reports. Lecanemab was given the green light in the US earlier this month, but is still awaiting approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK.

Another Alzheimer’s antibody drug, called aducanumab, was recently rejected by European regulators because of safety concerns and a lack of evidence that it would be effective for patients.

More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, and that number is expected to grow to nearly 13 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

The story of a patient who participated in the study

Mike Colley, aged 80, is one of several dozen patients in Great Britain who took part in this global study, published in the journal JAMA, writes the BBC.

He receives an infusion every month at a clinic in London and says he is “one of the luckiest people you will ever meet”.

Mike and his family noticed that he had problems with memory and decision-making not long before he started the study.

His son Mark said it was very difficult at first. “Watching him struggle with information processing and problem solving was very difficult. But I think the decline has reached a plateau now,” Mark told the BBC.

“I feel more confident every day,” confesses Mike.

Mike Colley turned 80 in April. At his birthday party, he surprised his family by singing My Way in front of 40 guests. He told BBC News: “That’s the confidence I have now. I wouldn’t have done that even 12 months ago.”

His son Mark added: “I never thought I would see my dad so full of life again. It was an incredible moment.”

Editor :
I.C

2023-07-17 16:05:48
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