An experimental Alzheimer's drug being developed by Roche Holding AG is showing promise in a small early-stage study, the Swiss drugmakers said Monday.
"These results and especially the rapidity of the effects observed on amyloid removal are very encouraging and pave the way for the development of a novel treatment for Alzheimer's disease," Luca Santarelli, head of Roche's global neuroscience disease division, said in a statement reported by Fox News.
The drug, called Gantenerumab, removed plaques from the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients, according to Fox News. Many researchers suspect the build-up of such plaques may be a cause of the disease, although the theory has yet to be proven.
The Phase 1 study of 16 Alzheimer's patients tested the drug at two doses against a placebo over a period of six months, Fox News reports.
Ganenerumab is a biotech drug designed to bind to amyloid plaques in the brain and remove them, Fox News reports. It's being used at the early stages of Alzheimer's in hopes that it can slow progression of the disease while patients are still able to function.
While companies are developing Alzheimer's treatments focused on the disease in its later stages, Roche is approaching the disease much earlier.
"We know amyloud accumulates for 15 years before dementia, so why should you wait to remove it," Santarelli told Reuters in an interview earlier this year.
The next step will be to investigate whether removal of brain amyloid clinically benefits the patients and if doses of the drug are safe, Roche told Fox News.
