UGA study questions effectiveness of US FDA Alzheimer’s drug Abbey Malec Jan 23, 2024 https://www.redandblack.com/uganews/uga-study-questions-effectiveness-of-us-fda-alzheimer-s-drug/article_86258e48-b9a6-11ee-a5b4-671c503984b1.html

 UGA study questions effectiveness of US FDA Alzheimer’s drug

Abbey Malec Jan 23, 2024 Updated 19 hrs ago 

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The University of Georgia Arch in downtown Athens, Georgia, on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. (Photo/Libby Hobbs; @libby.hobbs_)

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The effectiveness of a new drug used to treat Alzheimer’s was called into question by a recent University of Georgia study, according to a Jan. 22 press release.

Leqembi, a drug prescribed to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the summer of 2023.

However, according to a new study by Mark Ebell, a physician and professor of epidemiology and biostatistics in UGA’s College of Public Health, the drug does not show clinically significant improvements in memory or behavior.

The study consisted of 23,000 participants and evaluated eight monoclonal antibodies, including Leqembi. The study evaluated the drug's effects on life skills such as dressing and feeding yourself as well as potential side effects.

“We found that even after 18 to 24 months of treatment, the differences in function and cognition between treated and untreated patients were so small that a patient or their caregiver generally wouldn’t notice the difference,” Ebell said in the release. “For example, the Mini-Mental State test has 30 possible points, but the difference seen in the studies was less than a third of a point. To be noticeable to a patient or their family, that difference would have to be at least 1 to 3 points.”