An NHS trust in Surrey and Hampshire has become the first in Europe to participate in a clinical trial for a new drug designed to delay or prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease. Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is offering the drug, Trontinemab, to individuals at high risk of developing the condition.
This trust is the third site globally to join the trial, which aims to recruit 1,600 healthy adults aged 55 to 80 internationally. The Surrey and north east Hampshire trust will recruit participants from anywhere in the UK.
Trontinemab works by targeting beta amyloid, a sticky substance that accumulates between brain cells in Alzheimer's disease. Researchers plan to use blood tests to identify individuals most likely to benefit from participating in the trial.
Professor Ramin Nilforooshan, consultant psychiatrist and chief investigator for the trial, stated that previous research has primarily focused on treating Alzheimer's after symptoms have appeared. He added that this trial addresses the question of whether intervention can occur earlier, before symptoms begin.