Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Progress Reported For 2 Experimental Alzheimer's Treatments
The Boston Globe: Alnylam’s Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug Shows Promising Benefits In Patients For Six Months
Alzheimer’s patients who received a single dose of an experimental gene-silencing treatment from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals showed benefits for six months in a small study, the Cambridge biotech said Monday. Alnylam reported in April that recipients of the medicine experienced reductions as high as 84 and 90 percent in two protein biomarkers that researchers say foreshadow the formation of amyloid, a sticky protein that builds up in plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. Some scientists contend that build-up leads to cognitive impairment and memory loss. (Saltzman, 7/17)
Reuters: Acumen's Alzheimer's Drug Passes Initial Safety Test
An experimental Alzheimer's disease drug developed by Acumen Pharmaceuticals (ABOS.O) targeting a novel form of the toxic protein beta amyloid in the brain passed an early safety test and will advance to a larger trial, the company said on Sunday. The drug, ACI193, was well tolerated in the first trial testing it in people, the company said. Results of the randomized, placebo-controlled study of 62 patients with early Alzheimer's disease were presented at the Alzheimer's Association's International Conference in Amsterdam. (Steenhuysen, 7/16)
Also —
Reuters: Alzheimer's Diagnosis Revamp Embraces Rating Scale Similar To Cancer
Alzheimer's disease experts are revamping the way doctors diagnose patients with the progressive brain disorder - the most common type of dementia - by devising a seven-point rating scale based on cognitive and biological changes in the patient. The proposed guidelines, unveiled by experts on Sunday in a report issued at an Alzheimer's Association conference in Amsterdam, embrace a numerical staging system assessing disease progression similar to the one used in cancer diagnoses. They also eliminate the use of terms like mild, moderate and severe. (Steenhuysen, 7/16)
Worries in Europe about roll-outs of Alzheimer's drugs —
Stat: Europe Sees Delivery Challenges Ahead On Alzheimer's Therapies
Starting Sunday, Alzheimer’s specialists will gather for a major conference in Amsterdam, convening at a time when the field, depending on which expert you ask, has some rare momentum behind it, with new therapies starting to show benefits for patients. But despite the hard-won victories, the arrival of the new therapies presents a new set of challenges in Europe as countries plan for their possible rollouts, scientists and doctors told STAT. (Joseph, 7/14)
