‘Alzheimer’s is the next pandemic:’ Prof details new drug aimed at slowing disease

There’s one glaring barrier when it comes to the new Alzheimer’s drug that was just given authorization in the U.S.: The cost of the drug named Aduhelm.

“The treatment cost for this antibody is in the order (of) $56,000 US per year. If you translate that into Canadian dollars, you’re probably looking at $70,000 to $80,000. And that’s per person every year. You don’t just get a one-shot deal and it’s done. It would have to be an almost-continuous vaccine strategy,” said Darrell Mousseau, a University of Saskatchewan professor with the department of psychiatry.

“Right now at about $70,000 to $80,000 … you can see how most families wouldn’t be able to afford it.”

The drug is a vaccination against a protein within the brain called beta-amyloid, Mousseau explained.

Beta-amyloid is a small protein everyone makes, but most people are able to break it down or remove it when they don’t need it anymore. But for Alzheimer’s patients, it’s not that easy.

“Unfortunately, there are some individuals where that clearance is not so functional … It’s thought to contribute to the disease, but ultimately leads to Alzheimer’s disease,” Mousseau added.

“This antibody is designed to remove that protein from the brain before it can do any damage.”

Mousseau said most interventions currently wait until it’s “too late in the game,” with the damage already done — and you can’t reverse brain cell damage.

“That’s why most treatments have been very, very ineffective up to date. The difference (between) this antibody and this treatment is they’re targeting individuals very, very early on during the course of Alzheimer’s, the first time that they show symptoms,” he said.

The thought is if you’re able to catch those symptoms early, it may be able to stop the progression of the disease — or at least slow things down.

“It is a breakthrough. The breakthrough is not necessarily the antibody strategy so much. People have been trying that for years … Now that we can identify individuals who are more at risk much earlier on, then these strategies become much more effective,” Mousseau explained.

The fight against Alzheimer’s and other related diseases continues to be an issue, and to an extent which Mousseau described which is easy to decipher in the 16th month of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The problem is is Alzheimer’s is the next pandemic. We’re looking at the potential of every year here — at least in Canada — in the order of about 120,000 people developing Alzheimer’s or some related dementia. You can see it’s becoming quite a frightening statistic,” Mousseau said.

These statistics have people frantically looking for a cure or a slowdown, but Mousseau said the thumbs up in the States is promising news for Canada.

He said it’s likely to be fast-tracked here as well, within the next couple of years.

Another issue with Aduhelm is the side effects, according to the professor. This strategy creates concerns around amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIA).

“If they do neuroimaging of the brain … any kind of strategy that changes beta-amyloid in the brain has the risk of leading to brain swelling (and) in other cases you could have microhemorrhaging, or what are called microbleeds or mini-strokes,” he explained.

“(That would occur) probably in about half a per cent in the patients who would be taking the drug.”

Aside from the risks of side effects, Mousseau remained the cost is the only thing that may stop people from using Aduhelm.

If that cost is lowered, and the government is able to help out, he said the new drug could be more widespread and has the potential of slowing down this “next pandemic.”