Donanemab found to slow early-phase Alzheimer’s disease

A series of cures are being developed one after another that are designed to alleviate the deterioration of cognitive functions. Experimental Drug “Donanemab” introduced by global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, which is currently undergoing phase III clinical trials, has been reported to delay the progression of early-stage Alzheimer's disease. The report was published on Monday (local time) in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

According to Dr. John Sims and his team at Eli Lilly, the clinical trials were conducted on 1,736 patients with an average age of 73 who exhibited early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. The results showed that patients who took Donanemab experienced cognitive decline at a rate approximately 35% slower than those who took a placebo.

Newly released data also reveals that starting drug therapy immediately at the onset of memory and cognitive decline, the early stages of Alzheimer's, can delay the progression of dementia by nearly 60%. Eli Lilly announced that they submitted Donanemab for approval to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on this day, and the results are expected to be available by the end of this year.

If Donanemab receives formal approval, it will become the third dementia treatment following the conditional approval of "Aducanumab" in 2021 and the official approval of "Lecanemab" on July 6.

It is known in the academic community that a substance called "amyloid" aggregates in the brain, forming "amyloid plaques," which disrupt the function of nerve cells and contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease. All three treatments have utilized mechanisms to remove amyloid. However, their effectiveness has been observed primarily in early-stage patients, with the potential development of brain hemorrhages or edema. As a result, the FDA has issued the highest risk warning, a "black box warning," for Lecanemab. Donanemab has also shown side effects such as brain edema and bleeding in some patients who received the medication.


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