Lilly drug slows Alzheimer’s progression by 35% in trial

There’s been a major breakthrough in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Co. said Wednesday that its experimental Alzheimer’s drug, donanemab, yielded positive results in a new trial, and could potentially slow the disease’s progression in patients. 

In a press release, the company said people in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s who participated in the 18-month trial showed a 35% reduction in the decline of thinking skills when taking donanemab compared to those given a placebo.

The drug, which is in its Phase 3 study, is designed to target and clear away a sticky protein called beta-amyloid that builds up into brain-clogging plaques that are one hallmark of Alzheimer’s, according to the Associated Press.

“Over the last 20 years, Lilly scientists have blazed new trails in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease by elucidating basic mechanisms of AD pathology and discovering imaging and blood biomarker tools to track the pathology,” said Daniel Skovronsky, Lilly’s chief scientific and medical officer and president of Lilly Research Laboratories in the press release.

“We are extremely pleased that donanemab yielded positive clinical results with compelling statistical significance for people with Alzheimer’s disease in this trial,” he continued.

“This is the first Phase 3 trial of any investigational medicine for Alzheimer’s disease to deliver 35% slowing of clinical and functional decline.” 

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It causes memory loss and affects one’s cognitive abilities, typically progressing in a slow decline.

It affects the part of your brain that controls “thought, memory and language,” according to the CDC.

It is still unclear to scientists what causes Alzheimer’s, but this drug could be a good step forward in learning more about the illness.

However, this new drug could be dangerous for some patients: side effects of donanemab may include brain swelling and bleeding — which ultimately led to death in three participants, Lilly reported. The bleeding was detected in an MRI.

“We are encouraged by the potential clinical benefits that donanemab may provide, although like many effective treatments for debilitating and fatal diseases, there are associated risks that may be serious and life-threatening,” said Mark Mintun, group vice president Neuroscience Research & Development at Lilly, and president of Avid Radiopharmaceuticals. 

AP noted the preliminary study results haven’t been vetted by outside experts, with Indianapolis-based Lilly planning to release more details at an international Alzheimer’s meeting this summer.

The company wrote in its press release that it’s working to submit the drug to the Food and Drug Administration and anticipates being able to do so this quarter.

Lilly is not the only company hoping to put a potentially life-saving drug on the market.

In January, it was announced that Leqembi — developed by Tokyo-based Eisai – was awarded accelerated approval by the FDA.

Its drug, which is a monoclonal antibody infusion that a patient gets treated with every two weeks, also works in a similar fashion as Lilly’s aiming to slow the early stages of the disease.