CNN
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The experimental treatment, Gantenerumab, was unable to help people at high risk of memory loss from people who were in Alzheimer’s disease or early stages of the disease, the maker said Monday.
Guntenerumab is part of a class of infusion drugs designed to remove sticky protein fragments called beta amyloid from the brain. Beta amyloid accumulation is a characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.
Most of these drugs work as intended to clear beta amyloid, but many have failed to show actual benefits to patients. Despite treatment, their brain function and memory do not improve significantly.
Roche said Monday that guntenerumab appears to have removed beta amyloid from the brains of study participants more than expected. The company said the results of the third stage of the exam, known as graduates, are difficult but important to share.
“As many of our families are directly affected by Alzheimer’s, it’s a shame to provide this news,” says Levy, Roche’s chief medical officer and global product development officer. Dr. Galaway said. News Release. “While the results of our graduates are not what we wanted, we are proud to have provided the field with a high quality, clear and comprehensive Alzheimer’s disease data set. This complex disease.”
Roche said he would share more findings from future research at medical conferences.
The results of Gantenerumab follow the positive results of the different beta-amyloid-reducing drug Lecanemab. This year, Biogen and Eisai, the drug therapy, tested that Lecanemab announced this year that it would delay the decline in brain function in Alzheimer’s disease by about 27% compared to placebo. Some experts feel that the benefit of degree is on par with the controversial Alzheimer’s drug aduhelm.
Dr. Constantine Riketos, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said that if guntenerumab removed as much beta amyloid as the company predicted, it could have shown some benefit along with lecanemab and adelm. Ta.
“In other words, it’s a very conservative but not a clinically significant effect,” said Riketos, who was not involved in the study.
In a statement, the Alzheimer’s Disease Association said that while the results of Roche’s study were “disappointing,” he said he “have hopes for this class of treatment.”
“Each anti-amyloid treatment being tested works in a different way, and research into their efficacy and safety needs to continue,” Maria Carrillo, chief science officer for the nonprofit, said in a statement. Ta.
According to the Alzheimer’s Disease Association, in 2022, an estimated 6.5 million Americans lived with Alzheimer’s Disease.