Donanemab found to slow Alzheimer's and hailed a 'turning point in fight against disease'

A new drug has been found to slow the progression of Alzheimer's, with experts hailing it as a "turning point" in the fight against the disease.

Donanemab was found to slow "clinical decline" by up to 35%, allowing people with Alzheimer's to continue performing day-to-day tasks such as shopping, housekeeping, managing their finances and taking medication.

Following the findings of a trial of the drug, Alzheimer's Research UK said "we're entering a new era" where the disease "could become treatable".

The health spending watchdog in England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), is already assessing whether the drug can be used in the NHS.

Alzheimer's Society said treatments such as donanemab could one day mean the disease is comparable to long-term conditions such as asthma or diabetes.

The charity believes this "could be the beginning of the end for Alzheimer's disease".

Donanemab works by removing plaques of a protein called amyloid that build up in the brain of people with Alzheimer's.

Scientists have published the final results of a trial, known as TRAILBLAZER ALZ-2, examining the safety and efficacy of the drug, manufactured by US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly.

Researchers examined almost 1,800 people with early-stage Alzheimer's, with half given a monthly infusion of donanemab into the bloodstream and the other half given a placebo over 18 months.

The study concluded, after 76 weeks of treatment, donanemab slowed clinical decline by 35.1% in people with early Alzheimer's whose brain scans showed low or medium levels of a protein called tau.

When the results were combined for people who had different levels of this protein, there was a 22.3% slowing in disease progression.