San Diego Scientists to Test Drug Meant to Slow or Stop Alzheimer's Before Symptoms Appear

San Diego researchers will screen thousands of people worldwide to find candidates for an experimental drug designed to slow, and possibly halt, the progression of Alzheimer's disease, reports the San Diego Union Tribune . The University of Southern California's Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI) will lead the effort to find asymptomatic people with elevated levels of beta-amyloid on whom to test the drug BAN2401. "We believe the best benefit will come with the early administration of the drug, before there is substantial, irreversible damage," said ATRI Director Paul Aisen. The project will establish 100 test sites globally, where people can undergo a positron-emission tomography scan to identify elevated beta-amyloid levels. ATRI said the goal is to find "1,400 people who are clinically normal and have intermediate or elevated levels of amyloid in their brains. Researchers hope to screen the first participant by May 31 and complete enrollment in 18 to 30 months." A previous clinical trial showed that BAN2401 seems to have some ability to eliminate amyloid from the brain, but so far the drug has not demonstrated a major breakthrough.