A recent study co-authored by ATRI's own Dr. Paul Aisen has shown promising results for the effectiveness and safety of aducanumab in early Alzheimer's disease. The study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of aducanumab, a human monoclonal antibody that targets amyloid beta, in patients with early Alzheimer's disease. The study involved two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, global phase 3 trials called EMERGE and ENGAGE, which included 3,285 participants from 20 countries. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either low or high doses of aducanumab or a placebo via IV infusion once every 4 weeks over 76 weeks.
The primary outcome measure was the change from baseline to week 78 on the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB), which assesses both function and cognition. The study found that the high-dose aducanumab group showed a statistically significant change across all primary and secondary clinical endpoints in the EMERGE trial, but not in the ENGAGE trial.
Biomarker substudies confirmed that aducanumab effectively reduced markers of Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology in a dose- and time-dependent manner in both trials. The most common adverse event was amyloid-related imaging abnormalities-edema.
Research like this gives us hope that a cure or effective treatment for Alzheimer's disease is on the horizon. The dedication of researchers around the world is making progress in the fight against the disease.
