Drug success offers hope of finding 'cure' for dementia

DEMENTIA could be effectively "cured" if a potent wonder drug is fast-tracked for widespread use, experts said yesterday.

-  Giles Sheldrick

This week scientists will reveal results showing how donanemab can slow by 36 per cent the rate at which memory and thinking skills decline.

US pharma giant Eli Lilly is set to announce its full clinical trial results before embarking on fast-tracked global approval.

A spokesman told the Daily Express: "Based on the positive results from this trial we continue to proceed with global regulatory submissions for donanemab as quickly as possible."

It is the latest generation of immunotherapy drugs, a type already widely used to treat diseases like cancer.

The drug works by telling the body's immune system to attack foreign cells or proteins and dispose of them.

Evidence

Donanemab teaches immune cells to recognise and remove a toxic protein called amyloid, which builds up in Alzheimer's. It is given to patients through a drip.

If approval is granted in Britain, it could be available in two years.

Nearly half of those on the 18-month trial (compared to 29 per cent on a placebo) had no clinical progression of the disease after one year.