Rethinking Alzheimer's Treatment: Experts Challenge Efficacy and Safety of Anti-Amyloid Drugs

Alzheimer Experts unmasked the truth and found that all anti-amyloid drugs including lecanemab were neither safe nor effective for Alzheimer’s Disease.

SUNNYVALE, CA, USA, October 31, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Rethinking Alzheimer's Treatment: Experts Challenge Efficacy and Safety of Anti-Amyloid Drugs.

The Alzheimer International Society (AIS) proudly sponsored a groundbreaking webinar during the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) International Conference held on October 26, 2023, in Boston, MA, USA.

The webinar convened a distinguished panel of experts to dissect the recent FDA-approved anti-amyloid drugs for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). The panelists included:

• Dr. Rudolph Castellani, M.D., Director of the Neuropathology Core at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

• Dr. Alberto J. Espay, MD, MSc, FAAN, Professor of Neurology and Director at the University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center.

• Dr. Karl Herrup, Ph.D., Professor of Neurology and Investigator at the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, University of Pittsburgh.

• Dr. Zung Vu Tran, Ph.D., Retired Research Professor from the Department of Biostatistics & Informatics at the Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado.

Each panelist delivered a 10-minute presentation, unveiling their research findings and insights into the newly FDA-approved anti-amyloid drugs for AD. Subsequently, they engaged in a question-and-answer session with over 450 attendees from across the globe.

Dr. Castellani shed light on a poignant case study involving a patient who died due to adverse effects from lecanemab. He pointed out that clinicians should be vigilant in monitoring for any adverse reactions and be particularly mindful of the interaction with intravenous thrombolysis (e.g., tPA), because the fibrin that replaces blood vessel walls as a result of drug toxicity is itself a substrate for tPA and thus catastrophic hemorrhage.

Dr. Tran summarized his poster presentation titled "What does amyloid-beta (Aβ) have to do with Alzheimer’s disease: A history of failure." He presented compelling evidence suggesting that the entire class of anti-amyloid drugs do not appear to have a measurable clinical effect. He stated that the real-world effects of anti-amyloid drugs such as Lecanemab may be much smaller than reported in the trials due to biases and heterogeneity. In addition, patients often have comorbidities that make them more vulnerable to side effect risks and less likely to respond to treatment.

Dr. Herrup raised critical concerns regarding substantial risk profiles and exorbitant costs of these treatments, emphasizing that they could threaten the solvency of healthcare systems if adopted widely. He further challenged the clinical significance of the marginal benefits and the absence of a consensus regarding the therapeutic value of amyloid removal.

Dr. Espay delivered a resolute conclusion, asserting that lecanemab is neither safe nor effective, and, in the end, may not justify the means (lower amyloid), given the toxicity associated with amyloid removal.

Les Hamasaki, President of AIS, commented, "It was a lively and informative discussion on the safety and efficacy of this class of drugs. Overall, the panel concluded that the evidence for these drugs in the treatment of AD is questionable, and there are serious safety concerns. Our conclusion is that much more testing needs to be conducted on anti-amyloid drugs, alongside intensified research into the true underlying causes of the disease, coupled with sustained funding for alternative drug discovery."

About ALZHEIMER INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY (USA):

Alzheimer International Society™ is a non-profit organization with the goal to facilitate and accelerate the research to find prevention and treatment therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease, and to provide services and support to patients and stakeholders around the world.

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Alzheimer International Society-webinar on anti-amyloid drugs