With no effective agent yet available for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), Phase 2b clinical trial results for a novel agent (BAN2401) have recently offered tentative hope to the nearly 44 million people worldwide suffering from AD. BAN2401 is an anti-amyloid antibody that recognizes, and leads to the removal of, amyloid beta protofibrils -one of the types of pathological proteins that accumulate in the brain in AD. In this 18-month study involving 856 patients with mild cognitive impairment or very early Alzheimer's disease, participants were treated with either placebo or one of 5 different dosing regimens of BAN2401. At the highest dosages, BAN2401 led to a reduction in amyloid levels in the brain (as measured using amyloid PET), and in some cases resulted in amyloid PET scans that would be considered negative. Additionally, and perhaps most promising, treatment with BAN2401 also led to a statistically significant 30% reduction in the rate of cognitive decline at the end of 18 months. Although it is still early and other antibodies have failed in Phase 3 trials even after similar successful Phase 2 reductions in amyloid burden, the Alzheimer's community is tentatively hopeful that an effective treatment for AD may be on the horizon.
For more information on BAN2401:
Press release
Alzforum
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