Eli Lilly to seek US approval after Alzheimer’s drug trial success

Eli Lilly will apply for regulatory approval of an Alzheimer’s drug that a clinical study showed can slow the progress of cognitive decline in patients in the early stages, raising hopes for a new treatment to manage the disease.

For patients in a late-stage trial, the drug called donanemab slowed progression of the disease by 35 per cent compared with those who took the placebo during an 18-month treatment period. The decline in patients’ ability to perform daily tasks was 40 per cent lower for those on the drug.