Contact: Alzheimer's Society Press Office / press@alzheimers.org.uk / 0207 423 3595

For immediate release

New three-year data has been presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® 2024 (AAIC), showing the longer-term benefits of lecanemab treatment over three years without additional safety concerns.

Alzheimer’s Society, the UK’s leading dementia charity, responds to the news:

Dr Richard Oakley, Associate Director of Research and Innovation at Alzheimer's Society, said:

“In recent clinical trials stemming from early work funded by Alzheimer’s Society 30 years ago, lecanemab has been shown to slow memory and thinking skills decline in people with early Alzheimer’s disease, by targeting a protein called amyloid.

“This is the first study showing the longer-term benefits of lecanemab treatment over three years without additional safety concerns. This new research suggests people might need continuous treatment with lecanemab, but we need to see further data to confirm this. 

“This research also showed that the benefits of lecanemab treatment actually increase when it’s taken over three years. It’s encouraging that a small subgroup of participants in the very earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease were found to have either no decline or an improvement in memory and thinking skills over this time frame – further supporting evidence that an early and accurate diagnosis is critical to maximising benefit from these drugs.

“We’re still waiting to hear if lecanemab will be approved for use in the UK, but it has already been approved in the USA, China, Japan and South Korea.”  

“We’re at a turning point where people with Alzheimer’s disease could finally have treatments to slow its progression. But we know that currently people with dementia are not receiving an early or accurate enough diagnosis to access these treatments when they come, and a third of people with dementia in the UK don’t receive a diagnosis at all.

“Alzheimer’s Society is urgently calling on the NHS to commit to plans for how they intend to improve early dementia diagnosis and deliver ground-breaking treatments when they are available, to the people who desperately need them.” 

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

• Alzheimer’s Society is the UK’s leading dementia charity. We provide help and hope to everyone affected by dementia - past, present and future.
• Dementia devastates lives, but it’s not an inevitable part of ageing. Research commissioned by Alzheimer’s Society shows that around a million people in the UK have a form of dementia. By 2040, 1.4 million people will be living with the condition in the UK, and many millions more carers, partners, families and friends affected.
• Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer, and one in three people born today will develop dementia in their lifetime.
• Too many face dementia alone. Alzheimer’s Society wants everyone affected by dementia to know that whoever they are, whatever they’re going through, they can turn to us for expert support through practical advice, emotional support, and guidance for the best next step.
• Alzheimer’s Society is the only UK dementia research charity to fund both biomedical and care research, funding research in dementia diagnosis, treatment and care, and is a founding partner of the UK Dementia Research Institute.
• We will not rest until people living with dementia and their carers live more fulfilled and less fearful lives, free from stigma and inequality.
• Alzheimer’s Society offers friendly support through a range of virtual and in-person services, including our Dementia Support Line (0333 150 3456), our online Dementia Support Forum, and Dementia Advisers.
• Alzheimer’s Society relies on voluntary donations to continue our vital work. You can donate now by calling 0330 333 0804 or visiting alzheimers.org.uk
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Press Office: 0207 423 3595/07802 688 774  Email: press@alzheimers.org.uk