Phase III Trial For Alzheimer’s Drug Ended Early

Pharmaceutical company Roche has announced they have ended their phase III clinical trial of the potential Alzheimer’s drug, crenezumab, which was designed to treat people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

The decision to stop the CREAD1 and CREAD2 clinical trials early was based on results that suggested crenezumab was unlikely to improve people’s memory and thinking skills over a longer time period.

Roche has stated they remain committed to the Alzheimer’s field and have still ongoing clinical trials.

Dr David Reynolds, Chief Scientific Officer from Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:

“While it’s disappointing to see any Alzheimer’s trial ended early, the full study results can still provide important insights that could shape future trials to slow or stop Alzheimer’s disease.

“Amyloid remains a key player in Alzheimer’s disease, while a number of ongoing trials are investigating this protein, it’s also important to widen the number of approaches being explored to treat the disease. Alzheimer’s Research UK continues to work with drug discovery experts to strengthen and diversify the pipeline of potential Alzheimer’s treatments in clinical trials to maximise our chances of finding effective new drugs.

“Compared to other health conditions like cancer, research into the diseases that cause dementia have been vastly underfunded. We remain committed to delivering a life-changing dementia treatment and are calling for long-term sustained investment from both pharmaceutical companies, and government to deliver breakthroughs for people with dementia.”