An experimental Alzheimer's drug outperforms one just approved by the FDA

The image shows amyloid plaques in the brains of three patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's. Those plaques are greatly reduced in the first two patients, who got donanemab, but remain unchanged in a patient who received no treatment. (Eli Lilly and Company)

Patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's may soon have a new option to stave off the loss of memory and thinking.

In a study of more than 1,700 people, the experimental drug donanemab slowed the progression of Alzheimer's by about 35%, scientists reported at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Amsterdam.