A new Alzheimer drug has shown promise in slowing down the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease in patients with mild disease. It is donanemab, which is an antibody that attacks the amyloid (protein) in the brain that accumulates and damages nerve cells.
The developer is Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company. They submitted to the FDA early research showing the benefits of their new drug. Lilly requested accelerated approval based on their findings. However, the FDA denied the request because they wanted to see more research subjects treated before granting approval.
Lilly has indicated that they already have a larger study underway, which includes over 100 patients. They are confident the results will enable them to receive full standard approval from the FDA. Their current results showed complete absence of the abnormal protein in 40% of research subjects after 6 months of treatment.
Hopefully, the promise of this new drug will be realized, and patients with mild Alzheimer’s will have the disease slowed down or even stopped. Time will tell.
One challenge with antibody-based treatment is the cost. Alzheimer’s is the most common cause of dementia. According to the CDC, there are about 6.5 million people in the US who have it.
Roughly half of all patients have mild disease. That means that about 3.25 million people in the US might be eligible for this new treatment. Will it be affordable? That remains to be seen.
Peter M. Hartmann, MD
Family Medicine & Psychiatry
