Alzheimer’s drug by Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer safer than previously thought
As Alzheimer’s news goes, this tidbit is optimistic: An experimental drug to treat the memory-loss disease is safer than scientists originally expected.
Researchers were concerned that bapineuzumab, a drug therapy being tested in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s patients, carried the side effect of a brain swelling condition called vasogenic (cerebral) edema.
But the brain swelling appears to go away, according to preliminary research presented this week. In one small clinical trial, researchers found there were fewer vasogenic edema cases as time went on. And the risk was smaller for lower doses of the drug.
A second study looked at MRI images of Alzheimer’s patients and also found that the brain swelling (also known as amyloid-related imaging abnormalities or ARIA) is common but goes away with time—a researcher suggests in this Wall Street Journal article that there’s a safe range of the brain abnormalities. Both studies were presented at the Alzheimer’s Assn. International Conference in Paris.
Alzheimer’s disease is still incurable, and scientists thought bapineuzumab might be helpful because it targets amyloid-beta plaques, which are thought to play a role in the progression of Alzheimer’s.
The latest two studies address safety concerns of bapineuzumab, made by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. Now the question for further clinical trials is whether the drug actually slows or reverses Alzheimer’s.
In more news from the Paris Alzheimer’s Assn. meeting: Wounded veterans are at increased risk of dementia, and scientists have identified at least seven ways to slow down Alzheimer’s.
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