New Alzheimer’s treatment showing positive results in phase 3 of clinical trials

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - The third drug to help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease has shown positive results in clinical trials.

‘The topline results have been shared and the association is really excited about the results and they are the strongest results of any of the three that have been presented thus far,” Lissa Greenlee, Executive Director for the Alzheimer’s Association chapters in Greater Richmond, Central and Western Virginia

Donanemab is the latest treatment in clinical trial circulation.

“They’re all amyloid type drugs where they’re removing the amyloid plaque from someone’s brain which is the Hallmark sign of Alzheimer’s disease,” she said.

However, Donanemab works a little differently.

”This one differs in that once a certain amount of amyloid is removed from the brain the patient actually stops taking the treatment and so it’s a transfusion they receive once a month and so this is the first one once they reach that certain level of removal of amyloid that they would stop taking the drug,” Greenlee said.

This latest treatment could be FDA as early as July or August of this year.

With this good news comes a push from the Alzheimer’s Association to get its drugs covered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to make them more affordable and accessible.

“So any treatment that removed amyloid plaque from the brain is not currently being covered by CMS,” she said.

The Alzheimer’s Association chapters from Delaware, Maryland and Virginia are holding a rally in Washington D.C on May 24 to push for this coverage from CMS.

“It is unprecedented they typically cover any FDA-approved drug so we’re just asking that the Alzheimer’s disease is treated the same way that all other fatal diseases are treated,” Greenlee said.