Advertisement
Despite some disappointments, the pipeline isn't dry
More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease — and eagerly awaiting new medications to treat it. While we sometimes hear that the Alzheimer’s drug development pipeline is dry, that’s not necessarily true, according to a new report.
Advertisement
Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy
“I hear over and over, when I give talks around the country, there’s nothing going on, there’s no hope, there’s nothing, no progress being made, [but] I know that this is an $8 billion industry and there’s massive amounts of research going on to the tune of 75 drugs in clinical trials right now,” says Marwan Sabbagh, MD, author of the research and Director of Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.
The report explores drugs currently in clinical trials for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, including how far along they are in development and how they work.
Earlier this year, researchers experienced a major setback when a highly anticipated drug targeting amyloid, a type of protein linked to Alzheimer’s that accumulates in the brain, failed.
While amyloid-targeting drugs aren’t making as much progress as researchers had hoped, Dr. Sabbagh says there are new ideas and products moving forward.
For example, more individualized Alzheimer’s treatments based on certain genetic characteristics are emerging. And some scientists are looking at bacteria’s role in Alzheimer’s disease.
Meanwhile, a blood test to potentially detect Alzheimer’s risk is on the horizon as well.
While we may not have a cure for Alzheimer’s yet, Dr. Sabbagh says every discovery helps doctors better understand the disease and leads science in the right direction.
“We’re not going to hit the home run here — we’re going to hit base hits, and we’re just going to keep chipping away at this incremental progress,” he says. “That’s how we’re going to make this disease something we can manage better.”
Advertisement
Learn more about our editorial process.
Advertisement
Some ‘flare-ups’ are temporary and expected, others can signal a need to change therapies
Our collective misremembering of events comes from a surplus of false memories
Most routine vaccines are safe for people living with multiple sclerosis — but be sure to talk with your care team about your needs
This alternative brain-body therapy focuses on unlocking pent-up feelings, memories and tension that may be stuck in your brain and body
Current research suggests 1 out of every 36 children in the U.S. has ASD — and that’s probably an undercount
Strokes in the left side of the brain are more common and the effects are typically more noticeable
These trendy fungi may promote a healthy brain, heart and gut, but more research is needed to say for sure
This vital nutrient helps your brain and body in many ways — and most of us need more of it
Focus on your body’s metabolic set point by eating healthy foods, making exercise a part of your routine and reducing stress
PFAS chemicals may make life easier — but they aren’t always so easy on the human body
While there’s little risk in trying this hair care treatment, there isn’t much science to back up the claims