Donanemab slows disease progression, reduces amyloid in early symptomatic Alzheimer’s

Do you have any proof your doctors follow and implement research? Because you will likely need this, better start shopping for doctors now before you need this. If we had any brains at all in stroke, trials would be done on stroke survivors to see if using this prevents getting dementia,

Your chances of getting dementia.

1. A documented 33% dementia chance post-stroke from an Australian study?   May 2012.

2. Then this study came out and seems to have a range from 17-66%. December 2013.`    

3. A 20% chance in this research.   July 2013.

4. Dementia Risk Doubled in Patients Following Stroke September 2018 

The latest here:

Donanemab slows disease progression, reduces amyloid in early symptomatic Alzheimer’s

Key takeaways:

• The randomized, double-blind study included 1,219 individuals with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease.
• Donanemab performed superior to placebo for both carriers and noncarriers of the APOE ε4 allele.

Compared with placebo, donanemab slowed disease progression and reduced amyloid presence at 76 weeks for carriers and noncarriers of the APOE ε4 allele in early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease, according to data presented at CTAD.

“The APOE 4 allele increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and is associated with amyloid accumulation, cerebral amyloid angiopathy risk and an earlier age of disease onset,” Cynthia D. Evans, PhD, a neuroscientist at Eli Lilly & Co., said in her presentation.

Results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial found donanemab effective in slowing disease progression, reducing amyloid presence in early symptomatic Alzheimer’s. Image: Adobe Stock

Evans and colleagues sought to examine safety and efficacy of donanemab (Eli Lilly & Co.) by APOE ε4 carrier status for those with early symptomatic AD in the TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 clinical trial.

Their randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study included 1,729 individuals, 1,219 of whom were APOE ε4 carriers (mean age 72.6 years; 57.2% female) and 510 who were not (mean age 73.9 years; 58.0% female), with separate subsets of low-medium tau and high tau populations. Participants engaged in a screening period of up to 7 weeks, which included an MRI as well as amyloid and tau positron emission tomography scans. This was followed by a double-blind treatment period of 76 weeks during which IV donanemab was administered initially at three doses of 700 mg every 4 weeks for the first 12 weeks, then at 1400 mg every 4 weeks through week 76, or placebo administered every 4 weeks through week 76. Participants could enter a long-term extension of the study preceding a follow-up interval of up to 44 weeks.

Results showed that treatment with donanemab slowed clinical decline in both allele carriers and noncarriers at similar rates (36% vs. 35%) over 76 weeks, while clinical decline was faster for carriers and noncarriers given placebo.

In addition, efficacy rates for both allele carriers and noncarriers were similar in low-medium tau populations, but higher across all scales compared with the overall study population.

Data further showed that amyloid reduction for both carriers and noncarriers was significant at week 76 in the donanemab-treated population compared with placebo.

“Mean amyloid clearance was robust among all donanemab-treated participant groups,” Evans said. “Noncarriers decline faster than carriers on clinical scales in amyloid selected early symptomatic [Alzheimer’s disease] populations.”

Sources/Disclosures

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Source:

Evans CD, et al. Efficacy of donanemab by APOE ε4 carrier status in TRAILBLAZER ALZ 2, a phase 3 randomized clinical trial in early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease. Presented at: CTAD; Oct. 24-27, 2023; Boston.

Disclosures: Evans is employed by Eli Lilly & Co., which sponsored the study and has a pending patent application on the blood test used in the research.

Scientists hail new drug that could treat Alzheimer's by slowing cognitive decline by one third

Do you have any proof your doctors follow and implement research? Because you will likely need this, better start shopping for doctors now before you need this. If we had any brains at all in stroke, trials would be done on stroke survivors to see if using this prevents getting dementia,

Your chances of getting dementia.

1. A documented 33% dementia chance post-stroke from an Australian study?   May 2012.

2. Then this study came out and seems to have a range from 17-66%. December 2013.`    

3. A 20% chance in this research.   July 2013.

4. Dementia Risk Doubled in Patients Following Stroke September 2018 

The latest here:

Scientists hail new drug that could treat Alzheimer's by slowing cognitive decline by one third

Izzy Lyons

Tue, January 12, 2021, 4:40 PM EST

Alzheimer Disease, Mri - Universal Images Group Editorial

A new drug that could be used to treat Alzheimer's slows cognitive decline by one third, the initial stages of a clinical trial have found, as scientists hail the “potential therapy” for the disease.

The drug an investigational antibody therapy, is administered via an IV infusion and targets a protein found in the brains of those with Alzheimer's disease.

A trial involving 272 patients with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s found that donanemab contributed to a “significant slowing” of their cognitive decline compared to those who received placebo, renewing hope that researchers are closing in on therapies to fight the disease.

The two-year study, which has now concluded its second phase before entering a third and final phase, found patients’ decline was slowed by as much as 32 per cent over 18 months – a reduction researchers described as “statistically significant”.

Patients’ decline was measured with memory tests alongside assessments of how well they performed everyday activities like dressing themselves and preparing meals. 

Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, which is leading the study, saw its share price soar by 14 per cent in light of the new discovery. 

Dr Daniel Skovronsky, the company’s chief scientific officer, praised the “positive results” of the trial which has provided “confidence” that donanemab could be a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s. 

The researchers have said that they are pursuing talks with global regulators about the next steps in rolling out the drug, should the final phases also prove successful. 

The full results of the study, named Trailblazer-Alz, will be presented at a future medical congress and submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed clinical journal.

“We are extremely pleased about these positive findings for donanemab as a potential therapy for people living with Alzheimer’s disease, the only leading cause of death without a treatment that slows disease progression,” said Mark Mintun, the vice president of pain and neurodegeneration at Eli Lilly and Company. 

“With more than 30 years of dedication to finding solutions for this devastating disease, we are proud of our progress moving the field forward and advancing the science. These positive results give us hope for patients and their families,” he added.

The trial also found that donanemab helped clear amaloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, in the brain.

Six to 12 months following the treatment, the amaloid plaques were gone and did not return, said Dr. Daniel Skovronsky.

More than 850,000 people suffer with dementia in the UK, which represents one in every 14 of the population aged 65 years and over. 

At the rate of current prevalence, the charity Alzheimer’s society predicts that there will be more than 1.5 million people with dementia in the UK by 2040. 

The news of Eli Lilly’s potential breakthrough in finding an Alzheimer’s treatment follows the 2019 “turning point” by pharmaceutical company Biogen and trials of the drug aducanumab. 

Despite initially failing trials, aducanumab proved to reduce symptoms in patients and their cognitive decline by 25 per cent after 18 months.

Biogen said that these patients who took aducanumab had better cognition, memory and language and were able to live independently for longer, including performing household chores and travelling on their own.

Michel Vounatsos, Biogen’s chief executive, said that it hoped to offer patients “the first therapy to reduce the clinical decline of Alzheimer’s disease”.