Early intervention, imaging tests, new antibody drugs show promise in slowing the advance of Alzheimer’s disease.

Antonio Regalado writes at MIT Technology Review,

The earlier Alzheimer’s disease is treated, the better. Maybe even before symptoms arise. That’s the idea behind experimental drugs designed to remove plaques from the brain and prevent cognitive changes.

Today in Washington, both Eli Lilly and Biogen presented new data suggesting that antibodies designed to break up or clear the beta-amyloid plaques can slow the advancement of Alzheimer’s, particularly in patients with the mildest form of the disease.

...The brain scans are a key innovation, and a recent one. In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a fluorescent imaging dye made by Lilly that sticks to the plaques and makes them light up in a PET scanner (see “Brain Scan for Alzheimer’s”). Before that, Alzheimer’s plaques were usually diagnosed with certainty after death, during an autopsy.

...That has meant as many as 25 percent of patients in drug studies haven’t actually had Alzheimer’s, but instead a different form of dementia. What’s more, scientists have discovered that the plaques start building up 10 to 20 years before outward symptoms arise, suggesting that drugs ought to be given much sooner.

...Biogen’s results have been by far the most promising. Last March, it found in a small study that patients taking the highest dose of its antibody underwent cognitive declines about a fifth as great as patients getting a placebo. The mental declines were measured using exams with questions like “What is the year?” and “Where are we now?” and “Count backwards from 100 by 7s.” They also had less plaque in their brains.

The higher doses of Biogen’s drug did have side effects, including headaches and water buildup on the brain. In Washington today, Biogen presented new data on an additional 30 patients who received an intermediate dose of the drug. The results were largely consistent with its previous findings: both the degree of side effects and improvements seem to track directly to the dose of its drug.

...About 40 or 50 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s, and any drug able to slow the disease could become the drug industry’s largest blockbuster.

Read more here.