The corpse was already cold, but now it is well and truly buried: Researchers finally published the final results of the final clinical trial of Eli Lilly’s (LLY) experimental Alzheimer’s drug solanezumab. The bottom line — failure — has been known since Dr. Lawrence Honig of Columbia University unveiled the sad details at the 2016 Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease conference. But the reaction of outside experts, plus little asides in the New England Journal of Medicine paper, offer an intriguing glimpse into the sorry state of Alzheimer’s drug development:
What’s solanezumab?
It’s a monoclonal antibody that binds to beta-amyloid peptides and clears them from the brain, ideally before they form the fibrils that clump into the amyloid plaques that define Alzheimer’s. It doesn’t clear plaques themselves, nor restore the destroyed synapses or dying neurons that are responsible for disease’s catastrophic symptoms.
Unlock this article by subscribing to STAT+ and enjoy your first 30 days free!
GET STARTEDWhat is it?
STAT+ is STAT's premium subscription service for in-depth biotech, pharma, policy, and life science coverage and analysis. Our award-winning team covers news on Wall Street, policy developments in Washington, early science breakthroughs and clinical trial results, and health care disruption in Silicon Valley and beyond.
What's included?
- Daily reporting and analysis
- The most comprehensive industry coverage from a powerhouse team of reporters
- Subscriber-only newsletters
- Daily newsletters to brief you on the most important industry news of the day
- STAT+ Conversations
- Weekly opportunities to engage with our reporters and leading industry experts in live video conversations
- Exclusive industry events
- Premium access to subscriber-only networking events around the country
- The best reporters in the industry
- The most trusted and well-connected newsroom in the health care industry
- And much more
- Exclusive interviews with industry leaders, profiles, and premium tools, like our CRISPR Trackr.
About the Author Reprints
I ‘ll check
Why does continued defense of the amyloid hypothesis remind me of the Black Knight from Monty Python’s Holy Grail who never gives the fight as limb after limb is severed?
Hope researchers figure this one out sooner, rather than later. Why isn’t there more focus on what inflammatory factors cause Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and identifying and remediating them, instead of trying to reverse the process without turning off the sources?
Hi there the link to the NEJM paper isn’t working for me — do you mind sending a different link? Thanks
We modified the link. Try this one: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1312889
Pat Skerrett
STAT