Across the Atlantic, a laboratory has just completed phase II of its clinical trial for a drug against Alzheimer's disease. According to the researchers, the results are very encouraging. Indeed, the drug candidate induced a reduction in the deposition in the brain of a protein at the origin of cognitive decline.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Alzheimer's disease affects about 50 million people in the world. Each year, there are about 10 million new cases. This disease, mainly affecting the elderly, is the most common cause of dementia and is the cause of 60 to 70% of cases . Let's also mention that dementia is one of the leading causes of disability and dependency among older people worldwide.
On January 11, 2021, the American laboratory Eli Lilly announced in a press release that it had completed the phase II of a clinical trial regarding Donanemab. This is a promising drug for treating Alzheimer's disease whose encouraging results represent a source of hope for patients . It must be said that after many years of research, no potential treatment had been shown to be able to overcome this disease.
The trial in question included 272 patients with early-stage Alzheimer's disease. However, in 76 weeks of treatment with Donanemab, their deposits of beta-amyloid protein diminished by 32% compared to those of patients in the control group (placebo). This is a more than considerable improvement, testifying to the effectiveness of the drug.
Eli Lilly laboratory officials spoke of a decrease in the symptoms of the disease. It is about a considerable recovery cognitive functions of patients. The same goes for their vital functions. However, these improvements have not been observed on all control points. The laboratory is currently preparing for the third and final phase of the clinical trial. The latter should concern no less than 500 people.
In 2019, we were already talking about encouraging news about Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at NeuroEM Therapeutics had conducted a small clinical trial on 8 people. The approach was to propagate electromagnetic waves through the skull in order to achieve an improvement in cognitive symptoms.
