Over the last few years, scientists have made significant progress in developing innovative treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. In 2022, for the first time, a trial of a drug called lecanemab showed that the progression of Alzheimer’s can be slowed by medication, while another drug, donanemab, produced similarly promising results.
Now, researchers at the NHS are preparing to launch a new global trial, called the PrevenTRON study, which studies the effects of an experimental drug called trontinemab. This time, the focus will be on people who have no memory loss or other symptoms of Alzheimer’s, with researchers hoping to find out whether the drug could delay or even prevent the disease from developing into dementia.
As part of the study, healthy people aged between 55 and 80 from around the world were offered a blood test to check for p-tau217, a biomarker that can help predict cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer’s. Previous research has found that blood tests measuring p-tau217 can identify Alzheimer’s disease with up to 95% accuracy. Researchers have also estimated that around 78% of people with the biomarker could go on to develop cognitive impairment within 10 years.
Phase 3 of the trial is currently taking place with around 1,600 people from across 18 countries who currently have no symptoms of dementia but have elevated p-tau217 in their blood. However, we won’t know for sure how well the drug works until at least 2028, when the current trials are due to end.
Developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, trontinemab is an experimental drug that targets amyloid plaques, a toxic protein that builds up in the brain, damaging brain cells over time. Phase 2 of the trial involved 100 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s. It showed that trontinemab successfully cleared amyloid plaques in nine out of 10 people in just 28 weeks. This means that the drug has a real chance at offering a preventative solution to millions of people without symptoms as well.
Professor Ramin Nilforooshan, consultant psychiatrist and chief investigator for the PrevenTRON trial says, “For decades, research has focused on treating Alzheimer’s disease after symptoms appear. PrevenTRON addresses a different question, whether we can act earlier, before symptoms begin.”
Find out more about the trontinemab drug trails on the Alzheimer’s Society website.
Source: Alzheimer’s trial to test drug on people without symptoms to see if it can be prevented
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