Elise Denjean, edited by Manon Fossat
, modified at
7:43 am, September 21, 2021
While this Tuesday marks the world day against Alzheimer’s disease, which affects 225,000 more French people each year, the treatments are still struggling. But a drug revived this summer the hope of countering this pathology and is now awaiting the opinion of the European Medicines Agency.
About a million people in France have Alzheimer’s disease and this number is expected to increase with the aging of the population. Hence the importance of finding treatments to fight against this neurodegenerative disease. Because it is always difficult to find how to counter its evolution.
The hope of Aducanumab
The only drugs that indeed exist for Alzheimer’s disease allow alleviate the symptoms, but not more. They have existed for about twenty years and are no longer even reimbursed by Health Insurance. But the hope of countering this pathology, or rather of slowing it down, was relaunched this summer with the authorization by the United States Drug Agency of Aducanumab, a treatment that works like a vaccine.
“It is a drug that seeks to stop the progression of the disease by destroying and eliminating a protein that accumulates abnormally in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease, which is called the amyloid protein,” explained on Europe Morning Tuesday Professor Philippe Amouyel, director of the Alzheimer Foundation.
Numerous clinical trials around the world
Problem the latter is very expensive, on average $ 60,000 per year, and has significant side effects. Especially since there is no consensus either since two studies contradict each other on the subject.
“It raises a number of questions in that it is a relatively heavy treatment, by what is called a biotherapy with antibodies. It is relatively expensive and for the moment it still requires some studies to guarantee the ‘clinical impact and the clinical benefit that patients will have, “continued Philippe Amouyel.
But the file is still in the hands of the European Medicines Agency, which could issue an opinion by the end of the year. In the meantime, other immunotherapy is showing promise, according to specialists. In total, 102 molecules are in clinical trials around the world.
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