New Alzheimer’s wonder drug doesn’t prevent the disease

Lecanemab is the new wonder drug for Alzheimer’s—but it doesn’t stop the disease progressing.

The drug targets amyloid plaques, a protein that forms sticky clumps in the brain, but patients still develop the disease, a new study has discovered.

The drug, marketed as Leqembi, was approved in 2023—and was fast-tracked because it was seen as the big new hope in tackling Alzheimer’s.  But although it is successful in clearing plaques from the brain, it doesn’t prevent the disease, say scientists at Osaka Metropolitan University in Japan.

That’s because Alzheimer’s is a complex disease and it’s a mistake to focus solely on amyloid plaques, the scientists say.

People who show early signs of cognitive decline already have nerve damage and the brain’s waste disposal processes may be impaired.  The damage could partly be caused by plaques, but other things are also going on, such as a compromised glymphatic system, which clears the brain of waste.  In a healthy person, cerebrospinal fluid flows through spaces around arteries and into brain tissue where it mixes with interstitial fluid to remove metabolic waste.

Clearing the plaques after this process has started to deteriorate will do little to reverse cognitive decline, the scientists say.

What do you think? Start a conversation over on the... WDDTY Community