New Alzheimer’s drug hailed as ‘beginning of the end’ in search for treatment

Eisai reported initial results in September from a trial on 1,795 participants with early Alzheimer’s disease

Full results from the study have since been published in The New England Journal of Medicine, with experts hailing it as long-awaited proof that Alzheimer’s disease can be treated. File Picture: iStock

Experts have hailed the “beginning of the end” in the search for effective Alzheimer’s treatments after a new drug reduced memory decline among patients with early stages of the disease.

Lecanemab, which is designed to target and clear amyloid – one of the proteins that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s – was found to slow decline in patients’ memory and thinking.