Trontinemab Dementia-Prevention Trial Spans 18 Countries

Alzheimer’s research is expanding beyond treatments that modestly slow decline after symptoms begin, with studies exploring earlier intervention and new biological targets. Roche’s experimental drug trontinemab is being tested in a global trial involving people without symptoms but with elevated blood levels of the Alzheimer’s-associated biomarker p-tau217; results are not expected until at least 2028. Researchers are also increasingly interested in tau-targeting therapies, including an experimental Biogen treatment reported to slow cognitive decline in early-stage disease, although effectiveness and safety remain uncertain. Approved amyloid-targeting drugs lecanemab and donanemab have shown an ability to slow disease progression, but potential side effects and affordability remain concerns. Separately, researchers have identified the naturally occurring peptide catestatin as a possible way to interfere with processes behind brain-cell loss, but its safety and effectiveness have yet to be established in further research.