Drugs to Prevent Alzheimer's to Be Tested in Large Trial

THURSDAY, Oct. 11 (HealthDay News) -- The latest attempt to fight the mental ravages of Alzheimer's disease involves an international study of three different drugs in people destined to develop the brain disorder.

The large trial, scheduled to start next year, will assess the drugs' success in a group of people with gene mutations that practically guarantee they'll get Alzheimer's, but who do not yet have symptoms.

There is no cure for the condition, which gradually robs people of their memory and their ability to live their everyday lives.

The 160 American, Australian and British volunteers will likely start showing declines in memory and thinking within five years unless the drugs work, The New York Times reported.

The three drugs selected for the study were among 15 submitted by pharmaceutical companies. The final choices were based on the best evidence of effectiveness and lowest risk of dangerous side effects, The Times reported.

The drugs chosen are Roche's gantenerumab and two drugs made by Eli Lilly and Co., one called LY2886721 and the other called solanezumab, according to the news report.

The drugs use different approaches to target beta amyloid, a protein that forms the brain plaques characteristic of Alzheimer's.

"These trials will be the best test of the amyloid hypothesis ever undertaken," said Dr. Sam Gandy, associate director of the Mount Sinai Alzheimer's Disease Research Center in New York City.

"The drugs that they chose were the best options at the moment," he said.

One of the Lily drugs, called a BACE inhibitor, thwarts the beta-secretase enzyme involved in amyloid production. "If the BACE inhibitor succeeds, the immediate impact will be greater because that is given orally while the others are infusions," Gandy explained.

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Drugs to Prevent Alzheimer's to Be Tested in Large Trial