Experts have hailed the "beginning of the end" in the search for effective Alzheimer’s treatments after a new drug reduced memory decline among patients with early stages of the disease. Lecanemab, which is designed to target and clear amyloid – one of the proteins that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s – was found to slow decline in patients’ memory and thinking.
The phase three clinical trial results have been reported by Eisai, a Tokyo-based pharmaceutical company that has partnered with US biotech firm Biogen to develop lecanemab. Eisai reported initial results in September from a trial on 1,795 participants with early Alzheimer’s disease.
Scientists found that after 18 months the drug slowed the disease progression by 27% compared with patients taking the placebo. Full results from the study have since been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, with experts hailing it as long-awaited proof that Alzheimer’s disease can be treated.
