November 23, 2022

the dementia research landscape – Q&A in advance of CTAD

Dementia research is at a tipping point. Earlier this year, an Alzheimer’s drug, Eisai’s lecanemab, demonstrated a small but clear effect on memory decline – the first time any drug has done so. And despite subsequent negative results for another drug, Roche’s gantenerumab, lecanemab’s success means we will soon enter a new era where we have the means to make a real difference to people affected by this cruel disease. While this marks the “end of the beginning” of the search for effective treatments, there are many hurdles ahead that need to be cleared before any new dementia treatment can be made available to people.

With just one week to go until the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) conference, where the full clinical data for Alzheimer’s drugs including lecanemab and gantenerumab will be presented, journalists came to hear from leading dementia experts about the promising dementia research landscape, and what it means for patients and the NHS, and ask questions about the recent trial results and the studies expected at the conference.

Speakers included:

Prof John Hardy, Chair of Molecular Biology of Neurological Disease at the UCL Institute of Neurology

Dr Liz Coulthard, Associate Professor in Dementia Neurology at University of Bristol / North Bristol NHS Trust

Dr Susan Kohlhaas, Director of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK

Dr Mani Santhana Krishnan (“Krish”), Chair of the Old Age Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists