Alzheimer's Disease AD/PD Conference 2017: on the verge of something

We attended the 13th International Conference on Alzheimer`s & Parkinson’s Diseases in Vienna. Messages we received from the meeting are very encouraging, but patience for new therapies will be needed. Participants felt that we are on the verge of something.

Excitement in the Alzheimer’s Disease (Alzheimer’s) community for Biogen’s aducanumab (anti-abeta antibody) data remains high, as for the first time a disease modifying agent yielded a clinically relevant signal in 2015. The community seems to agree, that the recent failures of Lilly’s solanezumab (another anti-abeta antibody) and Merck’s BACE inhibitor do not question the current understanding of the disease but will help to positively influence future initiatives. Recent research work recognises that Alzheimer’s is a highly heterogenous disease – every patient is different – and that several disease mechanisms are at play.