Donanemab is the most recent of the immunotherapy drugs to make headlines with the release of the full results from the large final stage trial (called TRAILBLAZER-ALZ2). The trial included 1,182 people who have amyloid in their brains and symptoms of memory and thinking problems.
Donanemab was developed by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and is given to patients by an intravenous drip, which uses a liquid medicine in a bag and enters a person’s bloodstream through a canula
The first results showed that donanemab successfully leads to the removal of amyloid from the brain and can slow down quickly memory and thinking skills get worse.
In July, the full results of the trial were released at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2023, in Amsterdam.
Now we have heard that donanemab worked better the earlier it is given.
Donanemab slowed how fast memory and thinking get worse by more than 20%. The evidence from the trial suggests that the earlier in the disease the treatment was given, the greater the benefit. This means that there was more slowing in memory and thinking decline in people with fewer changes in their brains associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Promisingly, the trial also showed a 40% slowing in decline of everyday activities such as driving, doing hobbies and managing finances.
Following the positive results, the company that makes donanemab are likely to apply to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for the approval of donanemab in the UK. If approved it will then be reviewed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Donanemab would need to be approved by both the MHRA and NICE before becoming available in the UK through the NHS.
Several other trials are being conducted with donanemab. A trial called TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 3 is exploring whether donanemab treatment can delay or prevent the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Another trial called TRAILBLAZER-ALZ4 has compared donanemab treatment to that of another anti-amyloid drug called aducanumab, which is currently only approved for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in the United States.