Few Qualify for Approved Alzheimer's Disease Monoclonal Antibody Therapy

A cross-sectional study from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging published on August 16, 2023, aimed to quantify the clinical trial eligibility criteria for lecanemab and aducanumab treatment for people with early Alzheimer's Disease (AD).

These AD therapies, which are not preventive vaccines, recently received U.S. FDA authorization.

The data indicates that few people are eligible for the anti-beta amyloid monoclonal antibody (mAbs) therapies.

Two hundred thirty-seven participants (mean age 80.9) with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia and increased brain amyloid burden comprised the study sample.

The mAb aducanumab trial's exclusion criteria reduced the number of available participants, narrowing those eligible to 12 (5.1% of 237).

The common exclusions related to other chronic conditions and neuroimaging findings.

"At first glance, applying clinical trial criteria to real-world practice may seem overly conservative," noted Stephen Salloway, MD, of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and co-authors, in a related editorial published on August 16, 2023.

The journal Neurology published this Research Article: Eligibility for Anti-Amyloid Treatment in a Population-Based Study of Cognitive Aging.