Hunter residents at high risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease will be given access to a clinical trial involving a breakthrough drug that appears to slow the development of the disease.
The Hunter Medical Research Institute is the only site in regional Australia selected to screen people into a new clinical trial of Lecanemab.
A recently completed international phase three clinical trial, needed before a drug can be considered for therapeutic approval, found the drug slowed cognitive decline by 25 per cent in people with mild Alzheimer's Disease. It also slowed the accumulation of the main proteins involved in the disease.
"After decades of largely negative findings this is pretty dramatic," Professor Michael Breakspear, group leader of the Systems Neuroscience Research Group at HMRI, said.
"It's fabulous news for the community because the interest in pharmaceutical companies in many mental health and brain diseases has been in rapid decline because of all of the unsuccessful trials.
"Now we have the most important drug breakthrough in decades."
Sixty nine-year-old Bonnells Bay resident Margaret Williamson is among more than 100 Hunter residents who are participating in a study to understand the progression of dementia and be screened into a clinical trial of Lecanemab if they are identified at high risk of developing it.
Screening revealed that Ms Williamson and her twin sister Marilyn were in the high risk group, even though they did not have a family history of the disease.
Likewise, actor Chris Hemsworth recently revealed he had two copies of the APOE4 gene, increasing his future risk of Alzheimer's Disease.
"I was shocked when they told me (I was at high risk of developing the disease).
"Both of our memories are fine," Ms Williamson said.
"It's a terrible illness, I have seen people around here lose their partners from dementia and they were younger than me.
"It's awful to watch them just disappear and not know you anymore".
"Hopefully our participation will lead to better treatments."
Professor Breakspear said he was delighted that HMRI had been chosen as one of six centres in Australia, and the only one outside a capital city, where screening into the trial was occurring.
"People are generally very keen to participate in the clinical trials even when the outcome is unknown," he said.
"They really want to contribute to medical knowledge and maybe they'll help their kids. Having a new drug with such promising early outcomes is very exciting."
Professor Breakspear said Lecanemab was not a "silver bullet" but that this breakthrough would lead to even better agents with the same target and likely combinations of different agents.
"We treat most complex diseases with more than one pharmaceutical compound and this is a real gateway to starting to combine drugs, particularly those that target the other proteins that accumulate in Alzheimer's disease."
"Over the next 10 to 15 years there's an opportunity to look at drugs that significantly modify the disease process of Alzheimers."
People interested in taking part in dementia research can visit. https://www.australiandementianetwork.org.au/i-am-a-member-of-the-public-or-consumer/volunteer-for-trials/
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