New Alzheimer's drug could stop disease in its tracks before high-risk patients show symptoms
Trontinemab, a medicine given once a month, will be offered to 1,600 people with no memory loss who are at a high risk of the disease
A new Alzheimer's drug could stop the debilitating disease in its tracks before symptoms show, new research has found.
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Trontinemab, a medicine given once a month, will be offered to 1,600 people with no memory loss who are at a high risk of the disease.
The study will seek to track whether or not the drugs erode the sticky amyloid plaques that aggregate in the brain and cause the degenerative disease.
The medicine, known as "statins for the brain", could be routinely offered to people in mid-life if the study proves successful.
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The phase III trial is the final stage of testing before approval, and will use blood tests to identify those likely to benefit from the drugs.
Trontinemab is manufactured by Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche and works by removing sticky amyloid plaques that aggregate in the brain and cause the degenerative disease.
It follows the initial development of lecanemab and donanemab, the first Alzheimer’s drugs which have been shown to slow disease progression.
The drugs are licensed in the UK but not for use on the NHS on value-for-money grounds.
Hilary Evans-Newton, the chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “The science is advancing rapidly, and every new discovery brings us closer to a future where diseases can be identified and treated much earlier.
“Over the next five to 10 years, we will see a transformation in what’s possible, including the prospect of treatments that help protect brain health before symptoms progress – the concept of a ‘statin for the brain’.”