Despite failed trials, experts believe we'll have an Alzheimer's drug by 2025

[Abdullah719]

(CNN) The results of recent trials that tested much-anticipated Alzheimer's disease drugs dashed the hopes of patients with the debilitating condition. The most recent disappointment came from the large trial for solanezumab, by Eli Lilly, announced last month.

But experts across the field say hope is not lost. They believe we will have some form of drug against the disease by 2025, albeit most likely a pilot version that will need to be upgraded.

This target, in less than a decade, is the goal set by world leaders at the G8 dementia summit in 2013.

Researchers believe there are enough competitors in the race to get at least a few to the finish line on time.

"There are still a number of late-stage trials in progress," said Heather Snyder, senior director of medical and scientific operations at the Alzheimer's Association. "2025 is a realistic target in terms of where we are with the science. ... We're not off-track at this point in time."

Twenty-four drug candidates are currently in phase 3 trials on humans -- trials that involve larger numbers of people and a comparator to see a drug's true effect -- and many more potential drugs are in earlier stages of development. Speaking from the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer's Disease conference in San Diego this week, Snyder is hopeful that a few drug options -- not just one -- may surface to one day treat Alzheimer's at various stages of the disease.

The question now is, which trials will they be? Unlike with many other diseases, scientists don't fully understand the underlying causes of Alzheimer's, meaning drugs now in development are targeting different aspects of what is theorized to cause symptoms.

"This is a complex disease," Snyder said. "If you think of HIV or cancer ... we don't treat those diseases with one drug." The end result may have to be a combination therapy.

It's estimated that 46.8 million people were living with dementia worldwide in 2015, of which Alzheimer's disease is considered to be the leading cause. More than 5 million people are living with the condition in the United States.

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/09/health/alzheimers-drug-by-2025/index.html

 

[Syed1]

Inshallah.


I don't know the exact verse, but it is written in the Quran that the cure for every single ailment is provided in the world. Humans just have to find them.

 

[sweep_shot]

A US drug company says it has created the first therapy that could slow Alzheimer's disease, and it is now ready to bring it to market.

Currently, there are no drugs that can do this - existing ones only help with symptoms.

Biogen says it will soon seek regulatory approval in the US for the "groundbreaking" drug, called aducanumab.

It plans to file the paperwork in early 2020 and has its sights on Europe too.

Approval processes could take a year or two. If successful, the company aims to initially offer the drug to patients previously enrolled in clinical studies of the drug.

The announcement is somewhat surprising because the company had discontinued work on the drug in March 2019, after disappointing trial results.

But the company says a new analysis of a larger dataset of the same studies shows that higher doses of aducanumab can provide a significant benefit to patients with early Alzheimer's, slowing their clinical decline so they preserve more of their memory and every day living skills - things that the disease usually robs.

Big hope
Aducanumab targets a protein called amyloid that forms abnormal deposits the brains of people with Alzheimer's. Scientists think these plaques are toxic to brain cells and that clearing them using drugs would be a massive advance in dementia treatment, although not a cure.

There haven't been any new dementia drugs in over a decade.

Biogen's chief executive Michel Vounatsos said: "We are hopeful about the prospect of offering patients the first therapy to reduce the clinical decline of Alzheimer's disease."

Hilary Evans from Alzheimer's Research UK said: "People affected by Alzheimer's have waited a long time for a life-changing new treatment and this exciting announcement offers new hope that one could be in sight.

"Taking another look at aducanumab is a positive step for all those who took part in the clinical trials and the worldwide dementia research community. As more data emerges, we hope it will spark global discussions about the next steps for delivering much-needed treatments into people's hands."

Prof Bart De Strooper, Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute at University College London, said: "It is fantastic to hear of these new positive results emerging from the aducanumab trials. We currently have no effective treatments to slow or halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease and I hope this signifies a turning point."

What is Alzheimer's?
Dementia is not a single disease, but is the name for a group of symptoms that include problems with memory and thinking.

There are lots of different types of dementia and Alzheimer's is said to be the most common and most researched.

There are currently 850,000 people with dementia in the UK.

It's been a long and tortuous journey to find new drugs for the disease and recent attempts have ended in failure.

Experts hope a treatment is in sight, but they are cautious and will need to closely scrutinise these aducanumab trial findings.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-50137041.

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Hope they succeed.

 

[sweep_shot]

Dementia: New Alzheimer's drug 'could slow rate at which disease progresses'
Scientists believe they could be on the cusp of a breakthrough, after a drugs company said it had the first treatment of its kind for Alzheimer's.

The drug, which is called aducanumab, cannot cure it but Biogen says it slows down the rate at which it progresses, essentially meaning people stay more like themselves for longer.

This came as a surprise as the company had suspended the drug trial in March 2019 because of disappointing results.

But now a larger dataset has been analysed and Biogen says it shows that higher doses of aducanumab can provide a significant benefit to patients with early Alzheimer's.

The BBC has been to University College London to find out how the drug works.

<iframe width="400" height="500" frameborder="0" src="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/embed/p07s315q/50186508"></iframe>

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science...g-could-slow-rate-at-which-disease-progresses.