Experimental therapy Gnantenerumab fails to slow down or improve Alzheimer's memory loss in clinical trials
Cnn
–
An experimental treatment, Gantenerumab, did not help people at high risk of memory loss of Alzheimer's or those who were in the first phases of the disease, the manufacturer announced on Monday.
The Glovenerumab is part of a class of injected drugs designed to eliminate sticky protein parts called amyloid beta from the brain. Amyloid beta accumulation is a characteristic of Alzheimer's disease.
Most of these drugs have worked as intended to eliminate beta-amyloid, but many have still not demonstrated real benefits to patients; Their function of the brain and their memory do not improve significantly, despite treatment.
Roche said on Monday that Gantenerumab seems to have deleted less beta-amyloid of the brains of the study than expected. The company said that the results of phase 3 of its trials, called graduates, were difficult but important to share.
“Many of our families have been directly affected by Alzheimer's disease, so this news is very disappointing to deliver,” said Dr. Levi Garraway, chief of Roche and world development chief, in a press release. “Although the results of the graduates are not what we hoped, we are proud to have delivered a high quality, clear and complete Alzheimer data set, and we are impatient to share our learning with the community while we continue to seek new treatments for this complex disease.”
Roche said that she would share more results from her study at a next medical conference.
The results for the Gnantenerumab follow the positive results for a different beta-amyloid reducing medication, LecaneMab. Companies testing this drug, Biogen and Eisai, announced this year that LecaneMab had slowed down the decline in brain function in Alzheimer's disease by around 27% compared to a placebo. Some experts believe that the degree of advantage is tied with that of the controversial drug of Alzheimer's disease, which has been approved by the admissation of American food and drugs despite the lack of support of the agency's independent advisers.
Dr. Constantine Lyketsos, professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said that if Gantenerumab had deleted as much beta amyloid as the company had predicted it, this could have shown a certain advantage in accordance with Lecanemab and Aduhelm.
“In other words, a very modest but not clinically significant effect,” said Lyketsos, who was not involved in research.
The Alzheimer's association said in a statement that the results of the Roche study are “disappointing”, but it remains “full of hope for this treatment class”.
“Each anti-amyloid treatment tested acts in a different way, and research on their effectiveness and its safety must continue. It is important to assess each treatment independently,” said Maria Carrillo, scientific director of the non-profit organization, in the press release.
According to the Alzheimer's association, around 6.5 million Americans live with Alzheimer's disease in 2022.
