Alzheimer’s Trial Tests Experimental Drug on People Without Symptoms to Prevent Dementia
An international trial will offer an experimental Alzheimer’s drug to healthy people at higher risk to see whether dementia can be prevented before symptoms appear, with first European screenings set for Monday.
The phase III trial, called PrevenTRON, is recruiting about 1,600 people aged 55 to 80 from around the world. Participants from the UK will first be assessed to ensure they have no memory problems, then they will have a blood test for p-tau217, a biomarker that can predict cognitive decline and the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Previous research has found that people with the highest levels of p-tau217 have an estimated 78 percent chance of developing cognitive impairment within 10 years, and blood tests measuring the biomarker can identify the disease with up to 95 percent accuracy.
PrevenTRON will test whether giving a new drug, Trontinemab, to participants with elevated p-tau217 can stop dementia developing. The drug, developed by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, attacks amyloid plaques, a toxic protein that accumulates in the brain and slows – and eventually kills – brain cells. Early research found that Trontinemab cleared amyloid plaques in nine out of 10 people with early-stage Alzheimer’s within 28 weeks.
Prof Ramin Nilforooshan, consultant psychiatrist and chief investigator for the trial, said the study reflects a shift from treatment to prevention. “For decades, research has focused on treating Alzheimer’s disease after symptoms appear. PrevenTRON addresses a different question, whether we can act earlier, before symptoms begin,” he said. In an interview with The Telegraph, he stressed the experimental nature of the drug: “I’m not saying this trial is magic. It’s an investigational medicine. We need to wait and see: will it work or not?”
At least 15 hospitals and clinics across the UK are expected to take part in the study by the end of the year, with recruitment led by Surrey and Borders Partnership Trust. The trial is expected to last four to six years. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive Trontinemab or a placebo and monitored for signs of dementia.
Alzheimer’s disease is thought to develop in the brain up to 10 years before people usually seek treatment for memory problems. It affects around one in 14 people over age 65 and one in six people over age 80.