Hopes rise for Alzheimer’s cure from Australian trial

Australian scientists believe they are a step closer to curing Alzheimer’s, with a new drug that may even stop or reverse the effects of the degenerative disease.

Data from the clinical trial presented to a women’s mental health conference in Melbourne shows the medication can reduce levels of a brain protein called amyloid, which is notoriously linked to the condition.

A team of Melbourne researchers have developed a drug that has been found to stop the process in rats and a small group of sufferers. Called PBT2, the drug works by stopping beta amyloid from abnormally combining with the brain’s own metals, zinc and copper, and forming plaques.

When trialed on 78 patients over 12 weeks, the results were “remarkable”, with distinct improvement seen in executive function. 

The drug is being developed by the Australian pharmaceutical company, Prana Biotechnology Limited, which worked jointly on its discovery with the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria.

Larger scale trials involving hundreds of Australians are expected to get underway later this year, with the drug available generally as early as 2011 if found to be effective.