A new drug in the making that's expected to treat people suffering from Alzheimer's disease is due to be presented by Biogen and Eli Lilly at Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday 22, July 2015.

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Solanezumab, a drug designed by Eli Lilly, is aimed at halting the most debilitating neurodegenerative dementia known as Alzheimer's disease (AD) when found and treated in the initial stages. Solanezumab did not seem to give any fruitful results in the clinical trials, but when the data were researched carefully it was found that the drugs worked well in patients with mild AD. Solanezumab is an antibody that binds and clears up the protein build-up referred to s beta amyloid plaques in the brain that causes dementia, reported The Telegraph.

Eli Lilly has reported in a recent conference that the "results from 28 weeks' treatment suggest patients who received Solanezumab had a cognitive benefit not recovered by patients who began Solanezumab later." The company also added, "This is thought consistent with a treatment effect that changes the underlying pathology of Alzheimer's disease."

Meanwhile, Maria Carrilo, chief science officer of the Alzheimer's Association, said that beta amyloid plaques — the primary targets of AD treatment — will no longer be effective as one-target approach is not the solution for the debilitating disease, according to NPR.

On the other hand, Marcia Taylor, director of biological research of a biotech company Treventis, said, "Our ultimate goal is to discover a pill that can be taken once a day that could either stop or slow Alzheimer's disease."

Taylor explained that the amyloid plaques are formed when a protein in the brain folds and changes its shape. As a result it clumps with another such protein floating around in the cell and bind with it resulting in a chain reaction forming amyloid plaques that affect the brain. If the process of beta amyloid formation is to be contained, the protein misfolding should be taken care of.

"And our compound - because it targets protein misfolding - is actually able to prevent both beta-amyloid and tau from making these clumps," noted Taylor while explaining about their drug.  

TagsAlzheimer's Disease, Solanezumab, Biogen and Eli Lilly, Treventis, Amyloid plaque