Drugmakers’ new Alzheimer’s drug slows mental decline in trials

An experimental drug from Eisai Co. Ltd. and Biogen Inc. significantly slowed the decline of people with Alzheimer’s disease in a large Phase 3 clinical trial, a surprise finding that could revitalize a research field accustomed to disappointing study results, Healthcare Dive reports. Eisai and Biogen’s lecanemab works by blocking a form of a protein known as amyloid, accumulations of which in the brain have been linked to the characteristic loss of memory, orientation and function in Alzheimer’s.