Tragic Condition
Alzheimer’s disease is a sad condition that causes a person to lose their memory as their mind deteriorates. It gets so bad that at some point, they can’t function independently anymore, and eventually, they die. At least 50 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s, and that number is expected to rise above 152 million by 2050.
Currently, there are no drugs that can reverse or cure the disease. With so many people affected by it, scientists all over the world are working diligently to find an effective treatment. There are U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drugs that help symptoms of Alzheimer’s, but none that reverse, slow, or stop the disease altogether.
Waiting Approval
Now it seems that the constant research might be paying off. The pharmaceutical company Biogen recently announced it has an experimental medication called Aducanumab, awaiting FDA approval. The results from the drug’s Phase 3 clinical trial revealed that the ground-breaking treatment reduced mental decline in its participants.
The patients involved experienced substantial improvements in cognition, including functions like memory, language, and orientation. It even enhanced their ability to execute other everyday daily activities, such as performing household chores like cleaning and doing laundry, conducting personal finances, shopping, and independently going out in general.
Biogen CEO Michel Vounatsos, said:
With such a devastating disease that affects tens of millions worldwide, today’s announcement is genuinely heartening in the fight against Alzheimer’s. This is the result of ground-breaking research and is a testament to Biogen’s steadfast determination to follow the science and do the right thing for patients.
We are hopeful about the prospect of offering patients the first therapy to reduce the clinical decline of Alzheimer’s disease and the potential implication of these results for similar approaches targeting amyloid-beta.
If the FDA approves the drug, it will be the first therapy available to reduce the clinical decline of Alzheimer’s disease. It will also be the first therapy backing up the theory that removing amyloid-beta (which creates plaques that are associated with the disease) is a viable solution. The company says they are going to file a Biologics License Application in early 2020, so we will know soon enough.
Other Therapies
Targeting amyloid-beta (like Aducanumab does) is just one of the many strategies for treatment in testing. Other methods include: addressing inflammation, blood vessels, the immune system, and synaptic cell health. Many scientists believe that a cure will likely be a combination of several therapies, not any one of these on its own. “We need to continue these different approaches because we think that a treatment is potentially going to be complex,” said Rebecca Edelmayer, director of scientific engagement at the Alzheimer’s Association.
