In a large, placebo-controlled trial of nearly 1,200 people with early forms of Alzheimer’s, dunanimab slowed the progression of symptoms by 35% over 18 months, as measured by patients’ ability to perform daily tasks such as managing their finances, driving a car, pursuing hobbies and talking about things. current topics.
The US drug company Eli Lilly announced on Wednesday that its experimental Alzheimer’s drug significantly slowed the cognitive and functional decline caused by the disease, in what experts described as “astonishing”.
In a large, placebo-controlled trial of nearly 1,200 people with early forms of Alzheimer’s, dunanimab slowed the progression of symptoms by 35% over 18 months, as measured by patients’ ability to perform daily tasks such as managing their finances, driving a car, pursuing hobbies and talking about things. current topics.
These results come after a 27% slowdown in the development of symptoms of the disease recorded by the drug “Licamp”, which was developed by the American companies “Biogen” and “Azai” of Japan, and was approved by the US authorities in January.
Eli Lilly said it would quickly report its findings to the US Food and Drug Administration and other global regulators.
“We are very pleased that the clinical results of donanimab were positive with significant statistical significance for the Alzheimer’s disease study subjects,” Daniel Skovronsky, the company’s chief scientific and medical officer, said in a statement.
Nick Fox, of Dementia Research UK, said the findings, although full data are not yet available, “confirm that we are in a new phase of therapies that alter the progression of Alzheimer’s disease”.
“This clinical trial represents an amazing achievement, showing a significant 35% slowdown in cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients with high beta-amyloid and low tau protein,” said Mark Bosch, head of the Dementia Research Institute at University College London.
Side effects were temporary swelling of other parts of the brain in about a quarter of patients, as well as microbleeding, which was reported in 31% of those treated and 14% of those given a placebo.
