Breakthrough in Alzheimer's treatment shows promise

A late-stage trial of a dual-target therapy slowed cognitive decline by 38 per cent over 18 months in patients with early Alzheimer's disease, researchers reported on Monday — the strongest result yet for a treatment addressing both amyloid and tau pathology.

Unlike earlier antibody therapies, the new regimen showed benefit in patients who began treatment after symptom onset, a group that has historically seen little effect. Rates of brain swelling, the side effect that has constrained the current generation of drugs, were roughly half those reported in comparable trials.

Regulators in three jurisdictions have granted the therapy priority review. Health systems, meanwhile, face a familiar question: diagnostic and infusion capacity, not drug supply, is expected to be the binding constraint on rollout.