Read the full story on Plymouth Herald.
Plymouth Science Park tenant Re:Cognition Health has been conducting ground-breaking trials for Lecanemab, a new Alzheimer’s drug which could be a breakthrough for future generations.
Lecanemab has been hailed as “miraculous”, after seeing it slow the decline in participants over an 18-month period. With Alzheimer’s disease affecting around 850,000 people in the UK and with that figure expected to double in the next decade, the new drug offers hope to future generations. Alzheimer’s is believed to be caused by two key proteins, referred to as Amyloid and Tau, which create hardened plaques or tangles in the brain and destroy key cells. These hardened proteins lead to progressive cognitive and sometimes behavioural impairments.
Until recently, only symptomatic Alzheimer’s medication has been available. However, over the last few years, there has been an exciting new development in disease-modifying medication, known as Monoclonal Antibodies (MABs). Used to fight other illnesses, such as COVID-19, MABs are antibodies synthetically made outside of the body and form the basis for an injectable drug. Lecanemab is one such MAB and could be paving the way for a future of MAB treatments for AD and other forms of dementia.
At the forefront of clinical trials for these treatments is: Re:Cognition Health, currently enrolling volunteers to their latest international clinical trials.
Dr Emer MacSweeney at Re:Cognition Health said: “This is so exciting, because now we’re getting results. The first results are indicating that the drug is successfully treating the underlying cause and is slowing down the symptoms of cognitive impairment and also the behavioural symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
“Alzheimer’s is a complex disease and the search for effective biomarkers and possible treatments has been long, challenging and extremely expensive. The results for Lecanemab herald the “end of the beginning” of this search and forge a pathway for the development of multiple new treatments.”
Find out more about Re:Cognition Health.