Two experimental drugs to stave off the development of Alzheimer's disease among people at high genetic risk of developing the condition early in life failed to prevent or slow mental decline, the Associated Press reports.
The study, which was conducted by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis and began in 201, examined Eli Lilly's solanezumab and Roche's gantenerumab in a cohort of about 200 people from the US, Europe, and elsewhere, according to the AP. These individuals had genetic alterations in one of three genes that made them highly likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and already exhibited signs of disease-associated protein accumulation in their brains, it adds. As the Wall Street Journal notes, these drugs are designed to reduce the amount of beta-amyloid that accumulates in the brain.
The patients were given either solanezumab, gantenerumab, or placebo every four weeks and had their memory tested, but none of the treatments were associated with differences on memory or thinking tests, the AP reports.
"The negative outcome continues a long streak of studies in which experimental drugs fail to slow, halt or reverse the underlying worsening of Alzheimer's disease," the Journal notes.