
Roche to investigate if drug can prevent Alzheimer's
The clinical trial of the drug, Trontinemab, will target people who are at risk of cognitive decline and will aim to delay or prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer's, Roche said in a statement.
Trontinemab is designed so the drug is transported across the blood brain barrier - protective blood vessels that prevent chemicals in the bloodstream from entering the brain - in hopes of delivering more of the treatment to the brain.
Rivals like Eli Lilly have been making progress in the complicated field of Alzheimer's recently, with Lilly's drug Kisunla getting a recommendation for approval for certain patients from the European Medicines Agency last week. Kisunla is already approved in the US.
Treatments for Alzheimer's approved so far, including Eisai and Biogen's Leqembi and Lilly's Kisunla, are designed to clear sticky clumps of a protein called amyloid beta in the brain. They carry hefty price tags as well as the risk of serious brain swelling and bleeding.
Swiss drugmaker Roche plans to investigate whether an experimental medicine can delay or prevent Alzheimer's disease symptoms as a part of the company's growing development program for the disease.
The clinical trial of the drug, Trontinemab, will target people who are at risk of cognitive decline and will aim to delay or prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer's, Roche said in a statement.
Trontinemab is designed so the drug is transported across the blood brain barrier - protective blood vessels that prevent chemicals in the bloodstream from entering the brain - in hopes of delivering more of the treatment to the brain.
Rivals like Eli Lilly have been making progress in the complicated field of Alzheimer's recently, with Lilly's drug Kisunla getting a recommendation for approval for certain patients from the European Medicines Agency last week. Kisunla is already approved in the US.
Treatments for Alzheimer's approved so far, including Eisai and Biogen's Leqembi and Lilly's Kisunla, are designed to clear sticky clumps of a protein called amyloid beta in the brain. They carry hefty price tags as well as the risk of serious brain swelling and bleeding.
Swiss drugmaker Roche plans to investigate whether an experimental medicine can delay or prevent Alzheimer's disease symptoms as a part of the company's growing development program for the disease.
The clinical trial of the drug, Trontinemab, will target people who are at risk of cognitive decline and will aim to delay or prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer's, Roche said in a statement.
Trontinemab is designed so the drug is transported across the blood brain barrier - protective blood vessels that prevent chemicals in the bloodstream from entering the brain - in hopes of delivering more of the treatment to the brain.
Rivals like Eli Lilly have been making progress in the complicated field of Alzheimer's recently, with Lilly's drug Kisunla getting a recommendation for approval for certain patients from the European Medicines Agency last week. Kisunla is already approved in the US.
Treatments for Alzheimer's approved so far, including Eisai and Biogen's Leqembi and Lilly's Kisunla, are designed to clear sticky clumps of a protein called amyloid beta in the brain. They carry hefty price tags as well as the risk of serious brain swelling and bleeding.
Swiss drugmaker Roche plans to investigate whether an experimental medicine can delay or prevent Alzheimer's disease symptoms as a part of the company's growing development program for the disease.
The clinical trial of the drug, Trontinemab, will target people who are at risk of cognitive decline and will aim to delay or prevent the symptoms of Alzheimer's, Roche said in a statement.
Trontinemab is designed so the drug is transported across the blood brain barrier - protective blood vessels that prevent chemicals in the bloodstream from entering the brain - in hopes of delivering more of the treatment to the brain.
Rivals like Eli Lilly have been making progress in the complicated field of Alzheimer's recently, with Lilly's drug Kisunla getting a recommendation for approval for certain patients from the European Medicines Agency last week. Kisunla is already approved in the US.
Treatments for Alzheimer's approved so far, including Eisai and Biogen's Leqembi and Lilly's Kisunla, are designed to clear sticky clumps of a protein called amyloid beta in the brain. They carry hefty price tags as well as the risk of serious brain swelling and bleeding.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Sydney Morning Herald
an hour ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
How much coffee is too much? And should you be drinking decaf instead?
It's a kick-start for the day, a jolt many of us need to power through, and one of the last socially acceptable addictions. It's only when we have to go without coffee that we realise how badly we rely on it. The jitteriness and headaches from caffeine withdrawal can be so overpowering that many of us turn to decaffeinated instead, thinking surely it must be better for our health. But that might not be true, the experts say – not least because decaf coffee is not actually completely caffeine-free. So if you can bear to make the switch to decaf, just how much better will it be for you? What is decaf coffee, and how is it made? Decaffeinated coffee is coffee that has been treated before roasting to strip the caffeine out of it, with 'chemicals like carbon dioxide or by soaking the beans in water', says Dr Carlo La Vecchia, a professor at the University of Milan and expert from the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee. This water-based method is sometimes referred to as the Swiss method and is thought to preserve the flavour of the beans more fully. The names of other chemicals used in the decaffeination process – such as methylene chloride, a chemical banned from use in paint thinner for its toxicity – might sound alarming. But the amount left in the beans after this process is negligible, La Vecchia says. 'None of them should remain in appreciable amounts.' Loading This process does not completely strip the beans of their caffeine content, however, leaving behind 'around 2 per cent, and in any case less than 3 per cent' of their natural caffeine levels. A normal cup of filter coffee contains about 100mg of caffeine, though the exact amount used will vary by brand, while a decaf filter coffee has closer to 2mg.

The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
How much coffee is too much? And should you be drinking decaf instead?
It's a kick-start for the day, a jolt many of us need to power through, and one of the last socially acceptable addictions. It's only when we have to go without coffee that we realise how badly we rely on it. The jitteriness and headaches from caffeine withdrawal can be so overpowering that many of us turn to decaffeinated instead, thinking surely it must be better for our health. But that might not be true, the experts say – not least because decaf coffee is not actually completely caffeine-free. So if you can bear to make the switch to decaf, just how much better will it be for you? What is decaf coffee, and how is it made? Decaffeinated coffee is coffee that has been treated before roasting to strip the caffeine out of it, with 'chemicals like carbon dioxide or by soaking the beans in water', says Dr Carlo La Vecchia, a professor at the University of Milan and expert from the Institute for Scientific Information on Coffee. This water-based method is sometimes referred to as the Swiss method and is thought to preserve the flavour of the beans more fully. The names of other chemicals used in the decaffeination process – such as methylene chloride, a chemical banned from use in paint thinner for its toxicity – might sound alarming. But the amount left in the beans after this process is negligible, La Vecchia says. 'None of them should remain in appreciable amounts.' Loading This process does not completely strip the beans of their caffeine content, however, leaving behind 'around 2 per cent, and in any case less than 3 per cent' of their natural caffeine levels. A normal cup of filter coffee contains about 100mg of caffeine, though the exact amount used will vary by brand, while a decaf filter coffee has closer to 2mg.

The Age
20 hours ago
- The Age
Trump takes aim at ‘foreign freeloading nations' over drug prices in new threat to PBS
Washington: US President Donald Trump has blamed 'foreign freeloading nations' for the high drug prices faced by Americans and told pharmaceutical firms to negotiate harder with other countries, in a new threat to programs such as Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Trump issued letters to the bosses of 17 drug firms on Thursday (Friday AEST) demanding they extend 'most favoured nation' pricing to the US Medicaid scheme, and guarantee such pricing for new drugs. It means other comparable, high-income nations could not be offered cheaper prices than the US. 'Domestic MFN pricing will require you, and all manufacturers, to negotiate harder with foreign freeloading nations,' Trump wrote in the letters. 'US trade policy will endeavour to support this. However, increased revenues abroad must be repatriated to lower drug prices for American patients and taxpayers through an explicit agreement with the United States.' The letters were sent to major drugmakers including Pfizer, Eli Lilly, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, and published on Trump's social media. They did not mention Australia but referred to putting 'an end to the free ride of American innovation by European and other developed nations'. Under the PBS, Australians can buy life-saving drugs worth thousands of dollars for as little as $31.60 a script after the government negotiates with the drug company to secure a lower price based on buying in bulk. Trump's letter makes explicit instructions to drug firms to 'negotiate harder' and return those extra profits to American patients and taxpayers.