Alzheimer’s Drug with Modest Benefits Gets Green Light from FDA Advisers

image via New Scientist

June 13, 2024, 12:00 PM

• •Donanemab is an antibody that attacks amyloid, a sticky protein that accumulates in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.
• •Eli Lilly reported that the 622 trial participants who received donanemab and completed the trial lost their cognitive abilities more slowly over the study period than did those who received a placebo.
• •The committee also recommended more research on the drug’s efficacy in people of colour — more than 90% of Eli Lilly’s trial participants were white.

Donanemab, an antibody that attacks amyloid, has been approved by the FDA to treat Alzheimer's disease. The drug is effective in slowing the progression of symptoms in people with early stages of the disease, but it does not reverse symptoms and it can cause brain bleeding and seizures.

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