An Alzheimer's drug is set to be offered to people without symptoms in a bid to stop the disease in its tracks. Participants from across the UK will be given trontinemab as part of a groundbreaking trial which will test how effective the drug is at preventing the onset of the disease.
How the trial works
Those taking part in the trial, healthy adults with no history of memory problems, will be selected after being given blood tests for levels of protein tau, which can indicate biological signs of Alzheimer's years before symptoms emerge. They will then be given the drug in three monthly transfusions, with research suggesting that this can help clear buildups of plaque known to trigger the form of dementia.
About 1,600 healthy adults aged 55-80 will be recruited at research sites around the world under the phase III PrevenTRON study. Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust became the first healthcare body in Europe to launch the trial this week - and will be able to recruit participants from across the UK.
First in Europe
The trial is sponsored and run globally by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, with Professor Ramin Nilforooshan from the NHS trust acting as chief investigator for the whole continent.
He said: “Being the first site across Europe and the third in the world to open PrevenTRON is a proud moment for our Research and Development team and for the communities we serve. 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. Through research and trials like PrevenTRON, we are very excited for the potential to help millions of people affected by Alzheimer’s disease.”
Symptoms of Alzheimer's
Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, making up 60 to 80% of the one million dementia cases in the UK. According to the NHS, symptoms of Alzheimer's disease often progress slowly, over several years.
Unexplained lapses in memory typically appear at the first stage of the illness, such as: forgetting recent conversations or events, misplacing items, forgetting the names of places and objects, having trouble thinking of the right word, asking questions repetitively, showing poor judgement or finding it harder to make decisions, and becoming more reluctant to try new things. By the middle stage, people with Alzheimer's may struggle to remember the names of family or friends, or may not recognise them.
