According to the results of a recent study, a drug capable of eliminating amyloid deposits would hold great promise in the fight once morest Alzheimer’s disease. The conditional is necessary because an investigation was opened following the death of 2 patients who participated in the trials…
The 15th Alzheimer’s Disease Clinical Trials Conference held in San Francisco from November 29 to December 2, 2022 was an opportunity for pharmaceutical companies Biogen and Eisai to present lecanemab. This monoclonal antibody would be capable of specifically attacking amyloid deposits, aggregates which form around neurons, in particular during certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Their trial was conducted with 1,795 volunteers with an early form of dementia. During an 18-month follow-up, half received bi-monthly infusions of lecanemab, while the other half received a placebo.
“The results show that lecanemab slows cognitive decline by 27%. Which is good news for the millions of patients and families living with Alzheimer’s disease“, said Dr. Howard Fillit, co-founder and scientific director of theAlzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF). “But this is only the beginning. We have a long way to go from 27% to our goal of slowing cognitive decline by 100%.“
2 deaths during the trials
27%, a result so spectacular that the Food and Drug Administration (the American drug agency) is studying the possible approval of lecanemab for next year.
Except that… Almost simultaneously with the publication of this study, an investigation was opened following the death of a 65-year-old woman who had participated in the drug trials. This person suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage. For the moment, it is not certain that this death is directly attributable to lecanemab. As the patient had a stroke, she was given an additional drug, known as tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA), which immediately caused the bleeding.
This is the second lecanemab-related death. An octogenarian, also participating in the trials, died in June. Which raises questions regarding the safety of this anti-amyloid antibody.
