{"id":41925,"date":"2021-07-16T12:37:46","date_gmt":"2021-07-16T16:37:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencebusiness.technewslit.com\/?p=41925"},"modified":"2021-07-16T12:37:46","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T16:37:46","slug":"trial-to-test-antibody-drug-for-alzheimers-prevention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technewslit.com\/sciencebusiness\/?p=41925","title":{"rendered":"Trial to Test Antibody Drug for Alzheimer’s Prevention"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Neurons\"<\/a>
(commonfund.nih.gov)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

16 July 2021. Eli Lilly and Company is partnering with an Alzheimer’s disease research center to test a synthetic antibody for preventing the disorder in at-risk individuals. Banner Alzheimer’s Institute<\/a> in Phoenix and the Indianapolis drug maker are planning a clinical trial to evaluate Eli Lilly’s experimental drug donanemab for preventing cognitive decline in people considered at high risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease.<\/p>\n

Alzheimer\u2019s disease<\/a>\u00a0is a progressive neurodegenerative condition, the most common form of dementia affecting growing numbers of older people worldwide. People with Alzheimer\u2019s disease often have deposits of\u00a0<\/span>abnormal substances<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>in spaces between brain cells, known as amyloid-beta proteins, as well as misfolded tangles of proteins inside brain cells known as tau. Alzheimer’s Disease International<\/a> says an estimated 50 million people worldwide are living with dementia, a number expected to grow to 152 million by 2050.<\/p>\n

Donanemab<\/a> is a synthetic antibody designed to clear existing amyloid-beta protein plaques, while according to AlzForum most other drugs targeting amyloid-beta aim to prevent further amyloid-beta plaque deposits. Eli Lilly designed donanemab to slow progression of Alzheimer’s disease among people in the early stages of the disease. In January, the company reported that a mid-stage clinical trial<\/a> shows donanemab slows declines in cognition and day-to-day functioning more than a placebo in participants with early Alzheimer’s disease symptoms. A late-stage trial<\/a> is enrolling 1,500 participants with early Alzheimer’s disease to assess donanemab against a placebo for slowing cognitive and functional decline.<\/p>\n

Prevent progression before symptoms develop<\/h4>\n

Banner Alzheimer’s Institute and Eli Lilly plan a clinical trial to test donanemab for a somewhat different purpose: as a way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease among participants considered at high risk, but not yet showing symptoms of the disease. Mark Mintun<\/a>, an Eli Lilly vice president, says in a company statement<\/a> that the new trial, “will evaluate whether donanemab can prevent clinical progression in patients who have evidence of Alzheimer’s pathology, but don’t yet demonstrate clinical symptoms.”<\/p>\n

Banner Institute provides care for patients with Alzheimer’s disease as well as conducting research. One of Banner Institute’s main projects is the Alzheimer\u2019s Prevention Initiative<\/a> that evaluates treatments designed to prevent the disorder among individuals with genetic markers associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer\u2019s Prevention Initiative includes a patient registry<\/a> with some 359,000 individuals who take part in clinical trials. The project also has a genetic testing service called GeneMatch<\/a>, where participants send in a cheek swab for genetic testing, and based on the results are assigned to take part in clinical trials testing preventive treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.<\/p>\n

In the collaboration with Eli Lilly, Banner Institute will conduct a late-stage clinical trial using GeneMatch, where participants are tested for a specific mutation in the apolipoprotein E or APOE gene known as epsilon 4. The APOE4 variation<\/a> is associated with a higher risk and earlier age onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Eli Lilly cites data showing a person with two copies of the APOE4 variation are at a risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease up to 12 times higher than other APOE variants, and more likely to have beta-amyloid accumulations. Enrollment in the trial is expected begin later this year.<\/p>\n

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