Few Alzheimer’s patients will be suitable for new disease-modifying therapies, study suggests

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By Lily Canter

Few Alzheimer’s patients will be suitable for new "breakthrough" therapy drugs partly due to poor NHS screening facilities, a study has suggested.

Yet many patients with memory loss will still be referred for disease-modifying drugs lecanemab and donanemab when they become available, said researchers at University College London.

The findings, published in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, suggest only 14% of all cases reviewed at specialist cognitive clinics may benefit from the new drugs.

The drugs, which are already licensed in America, are currently being assessed for approval in the UK by regulators.

They have been described as "breakthrough” drugs because of their ability to remove beta amyloid protein in the brain, build-up of which is thought to have a key role in the development of the disease, but they only work in the early stages of the disease which relies on a quick and accurate diagnosis.

Should the drugs become available in the UK there is concern that demand for diagnostic services will grow “placing further demands on already overstretched services,” the study authors warned.