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Breakthrough £90,000 Alzheimer's drugs unlikely to benefit patients, report suggests
The review found the drugs cleared amyloid but cut cognitive decline only slightly, with 20,342 patients studied across 17 trials.
- On Thursday, a major Cochrane review found that anti-amyloid drugs lecanemab and donanemab make "no meaningful difference to patients" while increasing risks of brain swelling and bleeding, analyzing 17 trials involving more than 20,000 people with early dementia.
- After decades of costly research, both drugs received approval from the United States and European Union based on the theory that removing amyloid plaque buildup could slow Alzheimer's progression.
- Study co-author Edo Richard of Radboud University Medical Centre stated the findings refuted the amyloid hypothesis, describing treatment effects as "trivial" and "far below the minimal effect that's needed to be noticeable at all for patients and caregivers" after 18 months.
- British biologist John Hardy called the review a "silly paper which should not have been published," while Dr Richard Oakley of the Alzheimer's Society argued conclusions "look bleaker than it really is" by combining failed drugs with approved treatments; UK and France health services refused coverage.
- Australian neuroscientist Bryce Vissel cautioned the review "does not rule out future amyloid-directed therapies," while Richard expressed hope that efforts targeting other mechanisms could yield more effective treatments despite the 18-month trial window being relatively short for a slowly progressive condition.
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Alzheimer’s Drugs Have No ‘Meaningful Effect’ on Cognitive Decline: Review
A class of Alzheimer’s drugs that have only been available for several years did not appear to have any “clinically meaningful effects,” according to a new review of clinical trial data. Monoclonal antibodies that target plaque called amyloid beta in the brain showed little impact across 17 trials, Francesco Nonino, a neurologist and epidemiologist who directs the Unit of Epidemiology and Statistics at the IRCCS Institute of Neurological Science…
·New York, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources59
Leaning Left9Leaning Right8Center15Last UpdatedBias Distribution47% Center
Bias Distribution
- 47% of the sources are Center
47% Center
L 28%
C 47%
R 25%
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