Two proposed drugs to slow down the cognitive trajectory process of Alzheimer's disease were proven ineffective.
A late clinical-trial report showed that solanezumab and bapineuzumab are unsuccessful in removing senile plaques from the brains of patients with mild to moderate forms with Alzheimer's disease.
Solanezumab and bapineuzumab are both clinically bioengineered to bind with beta-amyloid deposits in the brain thus promoting its removal.
Initial clinical trials with the monoclonal antibodies seemed hopeful. Researchers even thought it would reach the U.S Food and Drug Administration's evaluation. However, preliminary results published in 2012 changed everything.
Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, two big companies financially backing up the development of bapineuzumab, deserted further efforts to prepare it to the market.
However, Dr. Paul Aisen, a researcher behind the development of solanezumab, isn't losing hope. He said that though the results of both studies were disheartening, they got a cue on what to change the course of Alzheimer's disease.
"Overall, I think these studies suggest that anti-amyloid interventions may need to be administered early in the disease," Aisen told LA Times.
He also expounded that the clinical trials of solanezumab showed that it is fit for early treatment. Clinical trials of bapineuzumab, on the other hand, showed that modestly reducing amyloid plaques in those with Alzheimer's disease is not enough to translate into cognitive effects.
Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical firm developing solanezumab, was also not losing hope. In fact, it has launched a bigger clinical trial, but this time, it shifted its focus on patients newly diagnosed with the disease.
The pharmaceutical firm hopes that this time, it will be successful.
When asked about the proposed bigger clinical trial, USC Alzheimer's researcher Dr. Lon Schneider said that results are likely to be limited.
"I hope it's positive, but it's most likely to have a modest effect," said Schneider, who was not involved with either of the current studies, to LA Times.
