NEW DEMENTIA DRUG COULD BE READY NEXT YEAR

THE first drug proven to slow Alzheimer’s disease could be available in the UK next year, an expert has predicted. 

- Hanna Geissler

Renowned geneticist Prof Sir John Hardy said the decadeslong search for treatments may finally have reached the “end of the beginning”.

But he and fellow scientists warned only a fraction of patients would benefit unless the NHS slashed diagnosis waiting times.

They want a huge effort to increase detection of Alzheimer’s in its earliest stages, so more people can be treated and take part in research.

Dr Susan Kohlhaas, of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “The challenges to the health system are going to be vast. Getting people diagnosed early, into research and treatment early, will be really key in the coming years.

“This is a real window of opportunity for us as a field to get that right.”

Around 900,000 people in the UK have dementia, of which 60-70 per cent of cases are caused by Alzheimer’s.

Scientists have faced decades of setbacks and dead ends in the search for a drug that could slow, halt or even reverse the disease.

But in September, the drug lecanemab was found to have reduced brain decline in people with mild dementia.

A world clinical trial of 1,795 patients showed it cleared both toxic amyloid protein from the brain and slowed symptom progression by about 27 per cent after 18 months.

Full data to confirm the findings will be presented in San Francisco next week and yesterday, a panel of experts gathered at London’s Science Media Centre to discuss their expectations.

Sir John said: “I’m really excited because we’ve only seen press releases and that’s a little bit dangerous.