Can Alzheimer’s disease be delayed or stopped before the symptoms begin? A new clinical trial strives to find answers.
Posted on: Thursday, December 1st, 2022
The AHEAD clinical trial will assess whether the new Alzheimer’s drug, lecanemab, can delay the onset of dementia in persons who are at high risk of developing the disease.
Lecanemab has aroused some excitement recently and has been covered extensively by the media.
A separate Phase III clinical trial, published Nov. 29 in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed that lecanemab slowed cognitive decline and cleared amyloid from the brain in participants with cognitive symptoms due to Alzheimer’s disease. Participants who received lecanemab in this trial more frequently experienced infusion-related reactions and small areas of temporary fluid or of blood in the brain (typically with no associated symptoms)
The Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases is seeking dementia-free volunteers ages 55 to 80 to enroll in a clinical trial of the investigational antibody. The goal of the AHEAD study is to assess whether IV infusions of the antibody (lecanemab) can delay cognitive decline if administered early, before symptoms begin. Lecanemab reduces levels of amyloid, a protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
The AHEAD study is the first clinical trial to test the effect of this antibody in people who have no cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease but in whom biomarker tests indicate amyloid is present in the brain. The study is also the first to recruit people as young as 55 who, because of family history and biomarker tests, are at higher risk of developing symptoms of Alzheimer’s as they get older.
To read the full press release, visit the UT Health San Antonio Newsroom.