Another failure extends the elusive search for Alzheimer’s ‘silver bullet’

Another failure extends the elusive search for Alzheimer’s ‘silver bullet’

Subject: Science and Technology

Section: Life science

Context: An experimental Alzheimer’s drug aimed at slowing or preventing cognitive decline in people at risk of developing the disease early has failed in clinical trials

What is Alzheimer’s disease?

• It is a degenerative brain disorder that slowly robs people of their memory and thinking abilities
• It is the most common form of dementia or loss of cognitive functioning — thinking, remembering, and reasoning – contributing 60%-70% cases
• Pathology of the disease is deposition of an abnormal protein called beta-amyloid in the brain
• The abnormal clumps (beta-amyloid plaque) and bundles of fibres (neurofibrillary tangles) along with loss of connections between the neurons to transmit messages inside the brain, are key markers of the disease

What was the latest trial that failed?

• The decade-long effort used crenezumab, a drug designed to block beta-amyloid in its latest trial did not show “significant clinical benefits
• In 2021, the USFDA approved Biogen’s beta amyloid targeting drug aduhelm, making it the first new Alzheimer’s drug to receive approval in the US in almost 20 years
• While that controversy continues to rage, crenezumab’s failure has called into question the very approach of relying too much on neutralising beta-amyloid to fight the disease, the strategy being tried in the majority of Alzheimer’s studies