The failure is entirely in line with the overall trend in assessments of Alzheimer’s drugs that target amyloid beta – the protein that forms deposits in the brain tissue of patients with the disease – which have resulted in dozens of candidates being abandoned.
However, it feels more disappointing given glimmers of efficacy seen of late with other drugs in the class, notably Eisai/Biogen’s lecanemab, and arguably leaves researchers mulling the same decades-old question – does amyloid cause Alzheimer’s or does Alzheimer’s cause amyloid?
