New Alzheimer's drug slows disease in trial. Local researchers among those who studied it.
PROVIDENCE – A new drug aimed at slowing cognitive decline in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease has proved effective in studies, and approval by the FDA for widespread use is being sought, pharmaceutical firms Biogen and partner Eisai reported this week.
Scientists at Butler Hospital and Rhode Island Hospital participated in the research, along with study participants they recruited.
The drug, lecanemab, administered intravenously, was shown to reduce accumulation of amyloid plaque protein, implicated in the onset and progression of Alzheimer’s, a disease that eventually destroys memory and personality and invariably results in death. The disease so far has proved resistant to treatment, despite many studies and significant investments by drug companies and research centers.
The so-called phase-three study of lecanemab “is the first completed pivotal trial to show amyloid-lowering and clear clinical benefits providing new hope for patients dealing with early stages of the disease,” Dr. Stephen P. Salloway, founder of Butler’s Memory and Aging program, said in an announcement from Butler.
The results, Salloway said, “represent an important step forward in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease ... We are very proud of the role that Rhode Islanders played in making this advance possible, and we eagerly await the release of the full study data and the review by FDA and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.”
Lecanemab clinical trial results
According to a news release from Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Biogen, the new drug reduced clinical decline compared to placebo by 27% at 18 months and “gives patients and their families hope that lecanemab, if approved, can potentially slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, and provide a clinically meaningful impact on cognition and function,” CEO Michel Vounatsos said.
“The announcement of the efficacy of lecanamab, a form of amyloid immunotherapy, is very encouraging,” Dr. Chuang-Kuo Wu, director of Rhode Island Hospital's Alzheimer’s Disease & Memory Disorders Center, wrote in an email. “As one of the participating sites of this ongoing drug study, we at Rhode Island Hospital hope that this trial will lead to a new therapeutic option for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. We look forward to sharing updated information with our patients and study participants as we await the complete study data in December and results of the FDA approval and [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] coverage decisions later in 2023.”
Word of lecanemab’s success follows last year’s controversial experience with aducanumab, sold under the brand name Aduhelm, another Alzheimer’s drug developed by Biogen and Eisai. In June 2021, the FDA approved use of the drug against the advice of an advisory committee that did not find convincing evidence of effectiveness. Medicare sharply limited coverage of Aduhelm, which costs $56,000 annually. According to The New York Times, the drug "has proved to be a commercial failure."
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: New drug slows Alzheimer's advance. RI researchers studied it
