Alzheimer’s Drug Solanezumab is Again Proposed – This Time as a Slowing Agent

Solanezumab is a drug that held great hope for treating Alzheimer’s disease, but was declared ineffective in beating the disease three years ago.

Now, a new trial is claiming it can slow the progress of the disease – if it is given early enough to patients.

The drug study is being presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Washington D.C. this afternoon.

Eli Lilly and Company, the pharmaceutical giant who said three years ago that the drug did not work to control advanced stages of the disease, now says that it seemed to slow down the progress of the deteriorating effects in the earliest stages.

“We are particularly excited about these data because this is the first time the delayed-start methodology has been implemented for an Alzheimer’s disease clinical trial,” said Hong Liu-Seifert, a study research advisor at Eli Lilly.

Solanezumab is designed with the purpose of ridding the brain of the amyloid plaques which progressively prevents neutral communication within the brain.

However, the drug failed to present the desired changes, as Eli Lilly announced in 2012.

But the company said it saw an effect in slowing down the disease in its earliest stages.

The latest trial is still underway, involving more than 1,300 patients. Final results are expected next year, the company said.

Also at the Alzheimer’s Association conference was a presentation by Biogen that their drug aducanumab, which also targets amyloid, continued to show improvement for patients at high doses – but potentially with side effects.

A new study, also presented at the conference, claims that 28 million Baby Boomers will develop the disease by 2050.