A major review by the respected health research charity, the Cochrane Institute, has reported that new Alzheimer’s drugs Lecanemab and Donanemab do not give dementia patients a better quality of life as expected.
The drugs, licensed only last year and hailed as the first effective treatment of the disease, were rejected for use by the NHS because they were not judged cost effective. There were also concerns that the side effects were severe. Now the Cochrane Institute says the drugs, although successful in clinical trials, simply do not work “in the real world”.
The drugs were developed to target the build up of amyloid plaques on the brain, which are thought to interfere with and destroy brain cells, leading to dementia. The review found that although the drugs did clear the amyloid plaques, this action provided no clinical benefit.
If this finding stands, it overturns decades of research into the causes of Alzheimer’s and its possible treatment by demonstrating that amyloid plaques are not a root cause of the problem.
The Alzheimer’s Society has criticised the methodology used in the review, but acknowledged that the causes of Alzheimer’s were highly complex.
Professor Paresh Malhotra of Imperial College and an Alzheimer’s Society trustee said: “I believe that it is important to look at the strengths and flaws of these drugs and to understand how their positive effects might be enhanced and their side effects reduced. Such studies are ongoing and I think this type of work is more likely to benefit patients than dismissing all of these drugs. We also wholeheartedly agree, and it has always been the case, that other avenues need to be explored. Amyloid is only one part of a highly complex disease”.