Promising Alzheimer's Drug Studied in Rhode Island Up for FDA Approval

A promising Alzheimer's disease drug researched in Rhode Island is up for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), reports NBC 10 News . Stephen Salloway with Butler Hospital's Memory and Aging Program said the researchers examined older people who lived a long life and either did not develop Alzheimer's or had very progression. From this study was developed aducanumab, which contains an antibody that appears to retard memory loss by targeting the plaques believed responsible. The study was held once a month for 18 months, and Salloway said "people had a two out of three chance of getting the drug . . . then after that, it was an open-label extension where everybody got it every month, so we've had people on this drug for more than five years." He added that if aducanumab gets FDA approval, "we'll be using it for people with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia, so early stages of Alzheimer's. I see this as the milestone breakthrough to get us going. But then we got to build on it."