Lindsey Shapiro, PhD, science writer —

Anavex Life Sciences’ investigational oral therapy Anavex 2-73 (blarcamesine) significantly slows cognitive and functional decline in people with early Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new data analysis of a Phase 2b/3 clinical trial. The cognitive benefits were accompanied by a slower rate of brain shrinkage, a marker…

The PrecivityAD blood test from C2N Diagnostics significantly influences clinicians’ decisions about whether to treat people with cognitive impairments for Alzheimer’s disease. C2N, which sponsored the recent study, believes those findings offer robust real-world evidence that blood biomarker testing in the clinic helps to guide treatment decisions…

Quest Diagnostics has launched a consumer-initiated blood test for adults in the U.S. that assesses Alzheimer’s disease risk by measuring levels of certain forms of the amyloid beta protein, a known marker of the neurodegenerative disorder. Called AD-Detect, the test is now the first of its kind…

Racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. are underrepresented in Alzheimer’s disease neuroimaging research, but the gap may be starting to close, according to a review study. Efforts to address the issue in recent years have been associated with small increases in minority inclusion, but much work remains…

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee has decided that data from the Phase 3 Clarity AD trial are sufficient to confirm the clinical benefits of Leqembi (lecanemab) for the treatment of early Alzheimer’s disease. The FDA now will consider the unanimous opinion of the committee…

One year of treatment with ALZ-801 (valiltramiprosate) was found in a Phase 2 trial to improve cognition and lower the levels of disease biomarkers among people with early Alzheimer’s with one or two copies of the apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) disease-associated genetic variant. Importantly, the investigational therapy from…

The Phase 1 INTERCEPT-AD trial testing the investigational antibody ACU193 in patients with early Alzheimer’s disease has now completed enrollment, according to its developer, Acumen Pharmaceuticals. Top-line results, including safety and proof-of-concept mechanism data, are expected ahead of schedule in the third quarter of this year. “Today’s…

A low dose of ACI-24.060, AC Immune’s investigational vaccine therapy, safely elicited the production of anti-amyloid beta antibodies among patients with Alzheimer’s disease, according to an interim analysis of a Phase 1b/2 trial. The study, called ABATE (NCT05462106), is evaluating the vaccine’s safety and ability to provoke…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has rejected Eli Lilly’s application for the accelerated approval of its amyloid-clearing antibody donanemab for treating Alzheimer’s disease. An accelerated approval lets the FDA grant conditional marketing authorization for a treatment based on preliminary safety and efficacy data, but additional clinical…

Note: This story was updated Feb. 7, 2023, to correct the number of participants in the Study 201 (NCT01767311), which evaluated Leqembi in 856 people with early Alzheimer’s. Lecanemab (BAN2401), Eisai and Biogen’s amyloid-targeted antibody therapy, has earned approval — under an accelerated approval pathway — from the U.S.