Phoenix research center awarded $74.5M to study Alzheimer’s prevention

PHOENIX – A Phoenix research center was awarded a five-year, $74.5 million federal grant to study Alzheimer’s prevention.

The Banner Alzheimer’s Institute will use the National Institutes of Health funding for a two-part study on a group of people in Colombia who carry a genetic mutation that makes it nearly certain that they will develop Alzheimer’s in life.

Carriers of the gene mutation, known as ADAD, can become cognitively impaired at an average age of 44, Banner Health said.

People who have Alzheimer’s develop amyloid plaques in the brain that disrupt nerve cell function.

How will the Alzheimer’s study be conducted?

The Banner Institute will collaborate on the study with the Neurosciences Group at the University of Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia.

The first part will use antibody therapy Donanemab to remove existing amyloid plaques. Donanemab has been proven to help remove amyloid plaques and slow down cognitive decline. It was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for patients with mild cognitive impairment and dementia due to Alzheimer’s.

The study seeks to learn about about the drug’s safety, suitability and biological efficacy for patients in different stages of ADAD.

The second part of the study will compare the following:

• Mutation carriers who will continue to receive Donanemab infusions.
• Participants who receive RG6289, Roche’s investigational gamma secretase modulator, an orally administered drug intended to slow the production of amyloid protein.
• Participants who receive a combination of these two drug treatments.
• Participants who will be on placebo.

The hope is that the study will help find the first effective Alzheimer’s prevention therapies within the next few years.

The study will consist of 200 cognitively unimpaired and mildly impaired mutation carriers and 40 non-carriers who will receive placebo. Enrollment is expected to begin in the fall of 2025.