Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that leads to brain atrophy and death of its cells. It is the most common cause of dementia. It leads to a persistent decrease in the ability to think, and in behavioral and social skills; This limits a person’s ability to live independently.
Over the course of 20 years of attempts and failures in research, only one drug has been registered once morest Alzheimer’s disease. "adkanimab"announced in June 2021, and if registered, it will be the new drug "Licanumab" It is the second of its kind to be adopted US Food and Drug Administration.
But how effective is the new experimental drug once morest Alzheimer’s disease? What is the proposed treatment plan? Is it really worth drowning patients and their families in rosy dreams? Or is the road still long and bumpy to reach an effective treatment?
Cautious optimism
Christian Steen Frederiksen, Director of the Clinical Trials Unit at University of CopenhagenHe expressed cautious optimism regarding the new drug, in exclusive statements to the website "Sky News Arabia"saying: "I think there is cause for optimism on behalf of patients with Alzheimer’s disease".
He adds that the published results – so far – show a convincing effect of "Licanumab"Given all the measures considered in the trial, including the assessment of Alzheimer’s disease symptoms, and with further scrutiny of the data in the future, we are talking regarding game-changing outcomes.
But Frederiksen believes that the time is still too early, it is difficult to predict the impact of current results on treatment programs in the future, the results are still very limited, and there is a need to know the opinion of the regulatory authorities, and continues: "There is no doubt that a drastic change will occur in the field of Alzheimer’s treatment, if the new drug is approved.".
Complex treatment plan
Director of the Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Copenhagen says: "Sky News Arabia" It is necessary to bear in mind that providing this drug to patients will never be easy, as the treatment is given by intravenous injection, once every two weeks.
He continued: "Patients need to undergo a rigorous diagnostic process and repeat MRI, so a diagnostic and care pathway must be designed to meet these requirements." Pointing out that this path may be offered in countries that have advanced and technologically advanced health care systems, which prevents many patients from benefiting from the drug, especially in poor countries.
The race to halt the development of Alzheimer’s disease comes amid expectations that the number of Americans living with the disease will double to 13 million in 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, while the Alzheimer’s Disease International said the number of patients worldwide might reach 139 million by 2050.
The biggest puzzle
In an exclusive interview with "Sky News Arabia"said Ronald Petersen, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota, USA, that this drug is not a cure for the disease, but it may change the course of the disease, and slow the rate of its progress.
According to the announced data, the drug stops the progression of the disease by 27 percent, as it works to remove the accumulation of plates and layers of a type of protein in the brain called "amyloid beta"It is one of the causes of Alzheimer’s disease.
Contrary to what scientists have believed for many years, Petersen says that "amyloid beta" Not the only component of Alzheimer’s disease, the disease is very complex, and includes other etiologies such as tau, alpha-synuclein, and TDP-43 proteins, as well as vascular disease, and cerebrospinal fluid dynamics.
Western: "proteins "amyloid beta" Just one piece of the bigger puzzle, it may be very important in some people as it is a common cause of disease, but eventually, we will need combination therapies; To attack multiple components behind Alzheimer’s disease.
Petersen’s explanation of the multiple causes of Alzheimer’s disease explains why most drugs developed during the previous decades to combat Alzheimer’s have failed; It was aimed at preventing the accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques only, without considering other pathogens.
Limited class and hope for the future
Jeff Cummings, director of the Chambers Grande Center for Transformational Neuroscience at the University of Nevada Las Vegas in the US, told "Sky News Arabia" it’s medicine "Licanumab" It will treat a relatively limited group of Alzheimer’s patients, limited to those who suffer from mild cognitive impairment; Where memory and thinking will be preserved for an additional time before the disease progresses.
Cummings points out that the side effects of the experimental drug appeared in regarding 20 percent of patients, including brain swelling in regarding 3 percent of the participants, and they often occur in the early stages of treatment, but the side effects are quickly controlled in the end.
In the conclusion of his speech to the site "Sky News Arabia" Over the next three decades, Cummings expects to see tremendous progress in controlling and preventing Alzheimer’s disease and other brain diseases affecting the elderly. As treatments will become more convenient, feasible and effective, blood tests help in early detection and intervention before patients develop symptoms.
It is noteworthy that the results of clinical trials on the new drug are derived from preliminary data only, but the companies Esai and Biogen say that they plan to publish them in a peer-reviewed journal, and they will seek to submit the data for approval by the US regulatory authorities by the end of next March.
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On Tuesday, Esai and Biogen said their experimental drug ” Licanumabslower the cognitive and functional decline of patients with Alzheimer’sin an experiment that included regarding 1,800 patients in the early stages of infection, in what may be considered a rare success, in an area where there are many drugs that have not yielded a result.
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that leads to brain atrophy and death of its cells. It is the most common cause of dementia. It leads to a persistent decrease in the ability to think, and in behavioral and social skills; This limits a person’s ability to live independently.
Over the course of 20 years of attempts and failures in the research field, only a single drug has been registered once morest Alzheimer’s disease, which is “adcanimab”, announced in June 2021, and if registered, the new drug “lekanamab” will be the second of its kind, which it adopts. US Food and Drug Administration.
But how effective is the new experimental drug once morest Alzheimer’s disease? What is the proposed treatment plan? Is it really worth drowning patients and their families in rosy dreams? Or is the road still long and bumpy to reach an effective treatment?
Cautious optimism
Christian Steen Frederiksen, Director of the Clinical Trials Unit at University of CopenhagenHe expressed cautious optimism regarding the new drug, in exclusive statements to “Sky News Arabia”, saying: “I think there is reason to be optimistic on behalf of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.”
He adds that the results published – so far – show a convincing effect of “lekanamab”, given all the measures considered in the trial, including the assessment of symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, and with further scrutiny of the data in the future, we are talking regarding game-changing results.
But Frederiksen believes that the time is still too early, it is difficult to predict the impact of current results on treatment programs in the future, as the results are still very limited, and there is a need to know the opinion of the regulatory authorities on them, and he continues: “There is no doubt that a fundamental change will occur in the field of Alzheimer’s treatment. If the new drug is approved.
Complex treatment plan
The Director of the Clinical Trials Unit at the University of Copenhagen told Sky News Arabia that it is necessary to bear in mind that providing this drug to patients will never be easy, as the treatment is given by intravenous injection, once every two weeks.
He continues: “Patients need to undergo a rigorous diagnostic process and repeat MRI, so a path for diagnosis and care must be designed to fit these requirements,” noting that this path may be offered in countries with advanced and technologically advanced health care systems, which prevents many of patients benefit from the drug, especially in poor countries.
The race to halt the development of Alzheimer’s disease comes amid expectations that the number of Americans living with the disease will double to 13 million in 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, while the Alzheimer’s Disease International said the number of patients worldwide might reach 139 million by 2050.
The biggest puzzle
In an exclusive interview with “Sky News Arabia”, Ronald Petersen, director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota, said that this drug is not a cure for the disease, but it may change the course of the disease and slow its progression.
According to the announced data, the drug stops the progression of the disease by 27 percent, as it works to remove the accumulation of plates and layers of a type of protein in the brain called “amyloid beta”, which is one of the causes of Alzheimer’s disease.
Contrary to what scientists have believed for many years, Petersen says that amyloid beta is not the only component that causes Alzheimer’s, as the disease is very complex, and includes other causes such as proteins: tau, alpha-synuclein, and TDP-43, as well as vascular disease, fluid dynamics Cerebrospinal.
“Amyloid beta proteins are just one piece of the bigger puzzle, and they may be very important in some people as a common cause of disease, but eventually we will need combination therapies to attack the multiple components behind Alzheimer’s,” he says.
Petersen’s explanation of the multiple causes of Alzheimer’s disease explains why most drugs developed during the previous decades to combat Alzheimer’s have failed; It was aimed at preventing the accumulation of amyloid-beta plaques only, without considering other pathogens.
Limited class and hope for the future
Jeff Cummings, director of the Chambers Grande Center for Transformational Neuroscience at the University of Nevada Las Vegas in the United States, told Sky News Arabia that the drug “lekanamab” will treat a relatively limited group of Alzheimer’s patients, limited to those who suffer from mild cognitive impairment; Where memory and thinking will be preserved for an additional time before the disease progresses.
Cummings points out that the side effects of the experimental drug appeared in regarding 20 percent of patients, including brain swelling in regarding 3 percent of the participants, and they often occur in the early stages of treatment, but the side effects are quickly controlled in the end.
In the conclusion of his speech to “Sky News Arabia”, Cummings expects to see, during the next three decades, tremendous progress in the control and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease and other brain diseases that affect the elderly; As treatments will become more convenient, feasible and effective, blood tests help in early detection and intervention before patients develop symptoms.
It is noteworthy that the results of clinical trials on the new drug are derived from preliminary data only, but the companies Esai and Biogen say that they plan to publish them in a peer-reviewed journal, and they will seek to submit the data for approval by the US regulatory authorities by the end of next March.
