Results of Solanezumab clinical trials in people with Alzheimer's disease announced

The key trial goals were in Phase 3 clinical trials in people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease.

Solanezumab is a monoclonal antibody that is being explored as a potential therapy for Alzheimer's disease. The two late-stage trials, known as EXPEDITION 1 and 2, tested solanezumab in people with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease, compared with a placebo. Phase 3 clinical trials included more than 2,050 patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease in 16 countries around the world. The trials were 18-months in duration.

'It is disappointing that Solanezumab didn't improve the symptoms of people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. Promising therapies do sometimes fail at this stage, but this is particularly disheartening given that a similar treatment, Bapinezeumab, also recently fell at the last hurdle. 

'Currently there are 150 times more clinical trials focusing on treating people in the late stages of cancer than Alzheimer's disease. Further investment in trials is urgently needed to identify effective therapies to improve the lives of the 800,000 people in the UK currently living with dementia.'

Professor Clive Ballard
Director of Research
Alzheimer's Society

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