Participants Needed for Yale Drug Study for Alzheimer’s Disease

Scientists from Yale School of Medicine are calling on willing participants for one of two clinical trials for pharmaceutical treatments against Alzheimer’s disease, which until this day, scientists have yet to find a cure for. The only drugs available on the market today are indicated for symptomatic treatment. Unfortunately, this form of dementia is a common cause of mortality among the aging population.

One of the trials will test T-817MA by Toyama Chemical Co. Ltd. as part of the NOBLE study on patients diagnosed with a mild to moderate state of the disease. This study takes place in two Connecticut sites, with Geriatric and Adult Psychiatry in Hamden being the second.

The director of the Alzheimer’s Research Disease unit at Yale, Dr. Christopher van Dyck, said that the NOBLE study is working towards finding a drug that can actually slow Alzheimer’s progression in terms of neuronal damage. This year-long Phase II study is already underway, but there is still a need for a total of 450 participants across more than 40 study sites, 67% of whom have a fair chance at receiving the drug over a placebo. 

The second trial is dubbed “A4” or anti-amyloid treatment of asymptomatic Alzheimer’s, which will study Solanezumab by Eli Lilly & Co. It is indicated for the prevention of the disease, and is the first of its kind to utilize findings on amyloid protein elevations in actual prevention.

A4 is a Phase III clinical trial and is expected to last 3 1/4 years. The study is calling on healthy individuals that have been tested to have elevated amyloid protein formations via PET scan, and are therefore at risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Yale will serve as the main recruitment site, as it is expecting to determine roughly 300 people’s eligibility and pick out 20-40 participants for the study. Dr. van Dyck is estimating this step to take about 1.5-2 years, and would like those interested to know that participants will have a 50% chance of receiving the drug.

Those interested in enrolling in either of the two studies, or those who know someone who would be willing to participate, may call the school at 203-764-8100.