Tens of thousands of dementia patients across the UK will soon be enrolled in clinical trials aimed at accelerating the search for new treatments, according to top scientists.
This significant initiative comes just after the NHS rejected a second Alzheimer’s drug due to high costs and limited benefits.
Dementia poses a growing challenge for the UK’s health and social care systems, with cases rising rapidly. Despite the urgent demand for effective and affordable treatments, only 61 UK patients participated in dementia trials in 2021-2022.
To combat this, researchers have launched the Dementia Trials Accelerator, a £20 million initiative funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC). This programme will help boost participation rates in dementia trials by enrolling tens of thousands of patients.
The initiative is spearheaded by the UK Dementia Research Institute (UK DRI) and Health Data Research UK (HDR UK), with a goal to fast-track the development of new dementia treatments.
This comes a day after the promising Alzheimer’s drug donanemab was rejected for use on the NHS in England. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) ruled that the drug was “too expensive” with too little benefit for widespread NHS use.
Donanemab is the second Alzheimer’s drug to be rejected by NICE in just three months. In August, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved lecanemab, making it the first disease-modifying Alzheimer’s drug licensed for use in the UK. However, NICE also dismissed lecanemab for NHS use, citing concerns over its cost-effectiveness.
Charities supporting dementia patients expressed frustration with NICE’s decisions, stating that the rejection represents another setback for those affected by the disease. Concerns have been raised that the UK may lose its appeal as a prime location for launching new dementia treatments.
Despite these concerns, experts involved in the Dementia Trials Accelerator have highlighted the UK’s strength in dementia research.
Professor Siddharthan Chandran, director of the UK DRI, emphasised that the UK’s world-class research infrastructure, combined with its unified healthcare system, positions it as a leader in dementia trials.
The Dementia Trials Accelerator will harness the UK’s resources to ensure that high-risk individuals and those living with dementia have more opportunities to participate in trials. The programme aims to transform the UK into a global hub for late-phase clinical trials in dementia.
Seventy-four-year-old Jennifer Brown, a patient participating in an Alzheimer’s clinical trial, welcomed the initiative and hopes that these efforts will accelerate the path to understanding and curing this devastating disease.
Science Minister Patrick Vallance acknowledged dementia as a “cruel” condition but expressed hope that recent breakthroughs would make it treatable in the near future.
Both donanemab and lecanemab are viewed as breakthroughs because they target the underlying causes of Alzheimer’s rather than just its symptoms. However, neither drug is a cure.
While they can slow disease progression, they come with significant costs, including the expense of the drugs themselves and monitoring for side effects such as brain swelling and bleeding.
Hilary Evans-Newton, CEO of Alzheimer’s Research UK, expressed disappointment that NHS patients will not have access to these drugs.
She noted that while they are not cures, they represent the first treatments to slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients, rather than merely treating symptoms.
Despite the setback, Professor B. Paul Morgan, from the UK Dementia Research Institute in Cardiff, acknowledged that NICE’s decision is understandable, given the high costs and potential risks associated with these drugs.
Chandran remains optimistic, stating that these drugs represent the “opening chapter” of Alzheimer’s treatments and expressing confidence that the UK is on the verge of developing safer, more effective therapies.
