The trial of an experimental Alzheimer's drug has been hailed as a "new era" in the fight to find a cure for dementia.
The results of the trial showed that the medicine lecanemab was able to remove clumps ofamyloid in the brain of people with Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia and can cause loss of memory, language, and other thinking abilities.
Researchers have been trying to find a cure for the disease for decades.
The drug is most effective in people with an earlier stage of the disease and further trials are needed to determine its long-term effects.
According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, lecanemab reduced markers of amyloid in early Alzheimer's disease.
It said that more trials are needed to determine the efficacy and safety of lecanemab.
1,795 volunteers with early stage Alzheimer's participated in the trial.
Half of the people were given lecanemab twice a fortnight, while the other half received a placebo.
Patients who took lecanemab slowed the decline in memory and mental agility.
These exciting findings represent a major step forward for dementia research and could herald a new era for people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Patients who didn't have enough evidence of Alzheimer's disease would not have been eligible for the trial.
Alzheimer's Research UK said the outcome was a major step forward.
The findings could herald a new era for people with Alzheimer's disease. The director of research said that this is the first time a drug has been shown to reduce the disease in the brain.
She warned that the drug was not a cure.
She said that it would be important for regulators to understand the safety profile of the drug before it is given a full license for use.
At the Alzheimer's Disease conference in San Francisco, the findings were presented. The release earlier in the fall of top-line results from manufacturers of the drug was followed by them.
A report that a 65-year-old woman had died from a haemorrhage after she was in the lecanemab trial caused shares of Biogen to fall.
It's not clear if the death was related to the drug. The woman had a haemorrhage and was given an extra medicine called tissue plasminogen activator.
According to the statement, all available safety information shows that lecanemab therapy is not associated with an increased risk of death overall.
The first report of a death from the trial was this one.
The results of the clinical trial are currently being assessed by the U.S. health regulators.
The approval process in other countries will be started by Biogen.
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