Alzheimer's Treatment - At Last Some Promising Hope?
After years of lack of progress, hope may now be coming for the treatment of Alzheimer's Disease (AD).
The results of the trial on Lecanemab, a prospect drug developed by Eisai Co Ltd and Biogen for the treatment of AD, is being lauded as a breakthrough for treatment. In the trial, patients given Lecanemab showed 27% lesser decline in thinking and memory skills compared to the control group across the 18 month trial period.
Lecanemab targets the beta amyloid protein plaques that form between neurones in the brain in many sufferers and that are one of the main causes of AD.
Dementia and neurodegeneration was first on the list of the Life Science Vision "Healthcare Missions", illustrating how seriously the UK takes the treatment of diseases such as AD. The Vision, which was published in 2021, identified it as the leading cause of death in the UK, and an economic cost of £25bn per year. The Vision warned this would only worsen with an ever-ageing population.
In the UK, AD makes up 60 - 70% of dementia cases in the population, with the Alzheimer's Society website estimating that dementia affects 900,000 people in the UK.
Although only a modest reduction in decline, this is a very positive sign for what would be the first treatment of AD. Time will tell if the benefits are compounded the longer that Lecanemab is taken.
For more information on the results of the phase 3 trial, you can refer to the Eisai Co Ltd's news release.
At the 2021 PING (Pharmaceutical Industry Network Group) Conference hosted by VWV, we heard from the lead author of the Life Sciences Vision at the Office for Life Sciences, Alex Mclaughlin.