New dawn for dementia treatments on the horizon
Today’s generation of elderly people could be the last to face the specter of untreatable Alzheimer’s disease, according to the co-chair of the UK government’s new dementia mission.
Hilary Evans, the chief executive of Alzheimer’s Research UK, appointed by ministers last month, said the world was “on the cusp of a new dawn” for dementia treatments that meant devastating neurodegenerative illness would no longer be regarded as an inevitable part of old age, according to The Guardian.
However, she warned that an overhaul of NHS dementia care was required to ensure patients could access the first effective Alzheimer’s drugs that could be approved in the UK as soon as next year.
“This could be the last generation that doesn’t have access to drugs,” she said. “For those in their mid- to late-70s and 80s, it might be a bit late, by the time they’re symptomatic, for these drugs to be effective.
“I’m in my 40s [and] my generation really will be the generation that will benefit,” she added. “For people in their 60s, there will, I hope, be quite a shift from where we are now.”
Evans was appointed last month to co-chair the UK government’s national dementia initiative, which aims to draw lessons from the COVID vaccine taskforce to accelerate dementia research and comes with a commitment to double funding for dementia research to £160m a year by 2024 to 2025.
It follows breakthrough trial results last year, in which lecanemab, developed by Eisai and Biogen, was shown to be the first ever drug to slow cognitive decline in early stage Alzheimer’s patients.