People without memory loss symptoms to join trial testing drug to prevent Alzheimer’s
At least 15 hospitals and clinics across the UK are expected to participate in the trial by the end of the year, and will include around 1,600 participants from around the world.
People without memory loss are to be offered an experimental Alzheimer’s drug as part of a trial aiming to prevent the condition developing before dementia symptoms appear.
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Healthy middle-aged people considered to be at higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s will be eligible to take part in the international trial, which is being run in the UK by the Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
At least 15 hospitals and clinics across the UK are expected to be involved by the end of the year.
The wider study is expected to run for between four and six years and will involve around 1,600 people aged between 55 and 80 from around the world.
First, blood tests will be used by researchers to identify people who are most likely to benefit from taking part in the trial, the trust said. The first European participants are due to be screened as part of the trial.
Read more: Six things you need to know about Alzheimers - as drug trials bring new hope
UK participants will first perform tests to make sure they are not showing any signs of memory loss.
They will then have a blood test to check for p-tau217, a biomarker which can help predict cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer’s.
Previous research found that people with the highest levels of p-tau217 had an approximately 78% chance of developing cognitive impairment within 10 years.
Participants who meet the criteria could then be offered Trontinemab, an experimental drug developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche.
The treatment is delivered through an IV bag and targets beta amyloid, a sticky protein which builds up between brain cells in people with Alzheimer’s disease.
The buildup of beta amyloid can affect brain cell function and, over time, result in brain cells dying, the charity said.
Prof Ramin Nilforooshan, consultant psychiatrist and chief investigator for the trial, said research had "for decades" concentrated on Alzheimer’s care after symptoms appeared.
Nilforooshan said the trial was taking a different approach to tackling the disease and ”addresses a different question, whether we can act earlier, before symptoms begin".
However, he stressed that the treatment is still experimental when speaking to the Telegraph.
“I’m not saying this trial is magic. It’s an investigational medicine. We need to wait and see: will it work or not?” he said.
An estimated 982,000 people are living with dementia in the UK, according to figures within an Alzheimer’s Society report.