Trial Begins To Investigate Diabetes Drug’s Potential For Alzheimer’s Disease

It has been reported t that a drug commonly used to treat type 2 diabetes is to be tested in a clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease. The drug, liraglutide, is to be evaluated in a phase 2 trial of people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s at centres across the UK.

Dr Simon Ridley, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, the UK’s leading dementia research charity, said:

“Earlier research in mice has suggested that liraglutide may be able to act against Alzheimer’s disease, but positive results from animal studies – a vital first step in research – do not always translate into benefits for people. Clinical trials are crucial to understand whether a treatment could help people with Alzheimer’s disease, so it’s encouraging to see this drug taken forward for human trials. We won’t know until this study has completed and the data has been analysed whether liraglutide could benefit people with Alzheimer’s, and we look forward to seeing the results of this trial in due course.

“Currently half a million people are living with Alzheimer’s in the UK and with this number on the increase, we urgently need to find treatments capable of stopping the disease in its tracks. For the best chance of success, we need to see many different approaches tested, which is why Alzheimer’s Research UK is investing in several drug discovery and trial initiatives to help speed up this process. Funding for research is vital if we are deliver new treatments that are so urgently needed.”