Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Promising Alzheimer's Drug Failure Is Latest In Long String Of Disappointments
The New York Times: Eli Lilly’s Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug Fails In Large Trial
An experimental Alzheimer’s drug that had previously appeared to show promise in slowing the deterioration of thinking and memory has failed in a large Eli Lilly clinical trial, dealing a significant disappointment to patients hoping for a treatment that would alleviate their symptoms. The failure of the drug, solanezumab, underscores the difficulty of treating people who show even mild dementia, and supports the idea that by that time, the damage in their brains may already be too extensive. And because the drug attacked the amyloid plaques that are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s, the trial results renew questions about a leading theory of the disease, which contends that it is largely caused by amyloid buildup. (Belluck, 11/23)
Stat: Alzheimer’s Drug Fails In Late-Stage Trial, Dashing Hopes
An investigational Alzheimer’s treatment from Eli Lilly failed to slow the progression of the memory-destroying disease in a late-stage trial, marking another setback in a field that has long bedeviled the drug industry. The injected therapy, called solanezumab, didn’t meaningfully beat a placebo in a study on more than 2,100 patients with mild to moderate forms of Alzheimer’s, Lilly said. This marks the third time Lilly’s treatment has missed the mark in a late-stage trial, and the company has abandoned any plans to submit it for Food and Drug Administration approval. (Garde, 11/23)
The Wall Street Journal: Eli Lilly Alzheimer’s Drug Fails Trial
An experimental Eli Lilly & Co. drug failed to significantly help Alzheimer’s disease patients in a closely watched clinical trial, dealing another blow to the pharmaceutical industry’s long quest to find a better treatment for the brain-damaging condition. (Loftus, 11/23)
The Wall Street Journal: Failure Of Another Alzheimer’s Drug Forces A Reassessment
The pursuit of a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease has long focused on clearing clumps of a protein called beta amyloid that build up in the brain of those with the mind-robbing condition. But the failure of Eli Lilly & Co.’s experimental amyloid buster is the latest indication that targeting amyloid is far from straightforward. Other treatments that target these so-called plaques have proven disappointing. (Hernandez, 11/23)
Stat: Despite Lilly Flop, Wall Street Wags Remain Bullish On Biogen Alzheimer'S Drug
Now that a widely anticipated Alzheimer’s medicine from Eli Lilly has failed a key test, a lot of attention is turning toward Biogen, which is developing its own compound to combat the notoriously hard-to-treat disease. A key question now, of course, is whether the Biogen drug will also be a flop or if there are enough distinctions to warrant even a little optimism. At first blush, one key similarity suggests Biogen may face a similar fate. Like the Lilly medicine, its drug, called aducanumab, was tested for clearing plaques called beta-amyloids, which build up in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s. Many scientists believe the plaques are central to the effect that the disease has on neurons. And other drugs testing this hypothesis have failed. (Silverman, 11/23)
Kansas City Star: Alzheimer's Prevention: Diets, Exercise And Drug Studies Offer Hope
At 65, [Ann] Poehler is cognitively healthy and wants to stay that way. She watched Alzheimer’s rob her grandmother of her memory and life. Now her mother is in a memory care unit. Like millions of aging Americans, Poehler hopes to escape the cataclysm of the brain-wasting disease that now afflicts some 5.4 million people in the U.S., a number that only promises to grow as baby boomers age, if a cure or preventive is not found. (Adler, 11/26)
