United States: With decades of research in place, several milestones have been achieved in Alzheimer’s treatment path with the approval of the first disease-modifying drugs and several pathological discoveries.
More about the case
According to Dr. David Morgan, Director of the Alzheimer’s Alliance and Professor of Translational Neuroscience at Michigan State University, “This is an unprecedented time for Alzheimer’s research. Significant advances have been made in understanding pathological factors affecting disease, long-awaited disease-modifying treatments have been approved, and more convenient diagnostic tools are becoming available – all major steps in changing the course and impact of this once-elusive disease,” as fiercebiotech.com reported.
A new era of Alzheimer’s disease therapies
There have been a total of ten treatments approved for Alzheimer’s disease; where two of them were recently approved disease-modifying drugs in July 2024.
The disease-modifying treatments are a category of monoclonal antibodies that target the elimination of amyloid-beta plaque build-up in those individuals having a mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease.
According to the scientists who convened a conference at the Alzheimer’s Association International noted that the community could be built upon recent progress. “We need new therapies, many more targets, better drugs, more convenient drugs, but it is important that we have changed the landscape by having disease-modifying therapies.”
Major advances in Alzheimer’s disease landscape
Another major advance is the emerging blood-based biomarker tests, which are expected to bring improvement in primary care, a reduction in waiting times for treatment commencement, speedy clinical trials, and lower costs of diagnosing Alzheimer’s, as fiercebiotech.com reported.
Challenges in various treatments
As per the experts, one of the greatest challenges in accessing the new monoclonal antibody treatment is making PET scans available to screen qualified patients.
The panel assigned by the Alzheimer’s Association is to conduct a systematic review in view of a systematic review of plasma-based biomarker tests. It is also done to provide clinical guidance in early to mid-2025.
Among the recent developmental efforts, most of them have been focused on mechanisms aiming to remove amyloid plaque accumulation or tau tangles, considered major hallmarks of the disease.