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Sep 28, 2022 1 min, 0 secs

An experimental drug has slowed the rate of decline in memory and thinking in people with early Alzheimer’s disease in what is being described as a “historic moment” for dementia treatment.

The cognition of Alzheimer’s patients given the drug, developed by Eisai and Biogen, declined by 27% less than those on a placebo treatment after 18 months.

“This is a historic moment for dementia research, as this is the first phase 3 trial of an Alzheimer’s drug in a generation to successfully slow cognitive decline,” said Dr Susan Kohlhaas, the director of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK.

In the study, which enrolled roughly 1,800 patients with early stage Alzheimer’s, patients were given twice-weekly infusions of the drug, called lecanemab.

On a 14-point scale used to assess Alzheimer’s progression, patients on the drug scored 0.45 higher than those on the placebo treatment, with an Alzheimer’s patient being expected to decline by about 1 point a year.

According to Alzheimer’s Research UK, only one in three psychiatry services would be ready to deliver a new treatment within a year and, in the UK, many patients are diagnosed at a much later stage than those who took part in the latest trial

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