Tens of thousands of dementia patients will be included in clinical trials designed to dramatically speed up the hunt for a cure, leading scientists have announced, as a second treatment was rejected for use by the NHS.
Dementia is a rapidly growing threat to health and social care, with the number of people affected increasing dramatically. But despite the urgent need for cheap and effective drugs to treat the condition, only 61 patients took part in trials in Britain in 2021-2022.
Now researchers are launching the Dementia Trials Accelerator, a £20 million initiative funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) to tackle the “historically low” numbers taking part in trials.
The UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI), which is leading the program along with Health Data Research UK (HDR UK), said it would recruit tens of thousands of dementia patients to help accelerate the discovery of new treatments for the disease.
The launch comes a day after a new Alzheimer’s drug was rejected for use on the NHS in England after healthcare watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said it “does not currently demonstrate value to the NHS” .
Donanemab was authorized for use in Britain on Wednesday by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), but Nice said the drug was too expensive and of too little use to be used by the NHS.
It was the second disease-modifying Alzheimer’s drug to be rejected by Nice in three months. In August, the MHRA gave the green light to lecanemab, making it the first drug of its kind to be licensed for use in Britain.
But as in the case of donanemab, Nice quickly said the benefits of lecanemab were too small to justify the significant costs to the NHS.
Charities said Nice’s decision on Wednesday was another “frustrating setback” for people with dementia and “also risks making Britain no longer a good place to launch new dementia treatments”.
However, experts involved in the new Dementia Trials Accelerator rejected this claim.
Prof Siddharthan Chandran, Director of the UK DRI, said: “The aim of the Dementia Trials Accelerator is to position Britain as the destination of choice for the pharmaceutical and industry sectors to invest in and expand late-stage clinical trials. to feed.
“The UK has all the assets to be a powerhouse in dementia, from world-class science, cohorts and data infrastructure to a unitary healthcare system.
“The accelerator will bring together these resources to ensure that people at high risk or with dementia have every opportunity to participate in clinical trials.”
Jennifer Brown, 74, a patient participating in a clinical trial for Alzheimer’s disease, said she welcomed more opportunities for people to participate.
“Hopefully our contribution and that of others in such studies will accelerate the understanding and eventual eradication of this terrible disease.”
Science Minister Patrick Vallance said dementia was a “terribly cruel” condition, but breakthroughs offered hope it could soon become treatable.
Donanemab and lecanemab were heralded as a huge step forward in research because they targeted a known cause of the disease, rather than just treating symptoms.
However, neither drug is a cure. Patients who take them do not get better, but the drugs slow the progression of the disease. Both also come with enormous costs, including the price of the drugs and monitoring for significant side effects, including brain swelling and bleeding.
Hilary Evans-Newton, the CEO of Alzheimer’s Research UK, said it was incredibly disappointing that NHS patients would not have access to either drug.
“Although these drugs are not cures and carry the risk of side effects, studies show that these are the first treatments to slow the decline in memory and thinking associated with Alzheimer’s disease, rather than just relieve symptoms.”
Prof. However, B. Paul Morgan of the UK’s Dementia Research Institute Cardiff said Nice’s decision was “understandable” as the drugs were “eye-wateringly expensive, difficult to administer and potentially harmful”.
Chandran said the drugs were “just the first chapter for Alzheimer’s treatments” and he was confident Britain was at a “pivotal moment” in the path to developing better, safer treatments.