Alzheimer’s Disease is a heartbreaking reality that steals any hope of recovery. The progressive neurologic disorder has had no cure until now. However, a new experimental drug is showing hope to slow the rate of decline in Alzheimer’s patients. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine and mentioned that the experimental drug, called Lecanemab, is an antibody that targets the clumps of an amyloid protein associated with the disease. Japanese drugmaker Eisai and their U.S. partner Biogen had announced that the drug seemed to work.
The research mentioned that Lecanemab, a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody binds with high affinity to amyloid-beta soluble protofibrils. This is being tested on patients with early Alzheimer’s disease.
Over the course of 18 months, a multicenter, double-blind, phase 3 trial was conducted. This involved patients in the age range of 50 to 90 with early Alzheimer’s disease with evidence of amyloid on positron-emission tomography (PET) or by cerebrospinal fluid testing. This meant they had mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. The patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive Lecanemab (10 mg per kilogram of body weight every 2 weeks) or a placebo.
According to Better Health Channel, Placebo is “a treatment that appears real, but is designed to have no therapeutic benefit.”
The study mentioned that “Lecanemab resulted in infusion-related reactions in 26.4% of the participants and amyloid-related imaging abnormalities with oedema or effusions in 12.6%.”
It is concluded that the drug reduced markers of amyloid in early Alzheimer’s disease. As a result, there was a moderately less decline in measures of cognition and function than placebo at 18 months. The study also mentioned that longer trials are needed to determine the efficacy and safety of Lecanemab in early Alzheimer’s disease.
If Lecanemab is approved as a treatment plan, it will be a groundbreaking moment in the field of medicine. Because so far there is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. While medicine is available that can reduce the symptoms, it is only temporary.
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