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The US Food and Drug Administration has not approved a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s disease since 2003. In an effort to end that drought, Eli Lilly, an Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical company, has developed a drug called donanemab, an antibody designed to clear deposits of amyloid-β peptides that form plaques in the brains of patients with AD. At the International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson's Diseases, held virtually March 9–14, researchers from Lilly announced Phase 2 trial results that donanemab slowed the progression of the disease. The study was published Saturday (March 13) in the New England Journal of Medicine during the team’s presentation.
The study followed 257 patients with early stages of AD over the course of 76 weeks. The primary endpoint of the study was measured by scores on the integrated Alzheimer’s Disease Rating Scale (iADRS). The score is based on two common systems used ...
