Middle-aged people with NO memory problems offered Alzheimer’s drug in world first
Middle-aged people with no issues with memory loss are set to be tested for Alzheimer’s drug in a world’s first test beginning in Britain.
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust will become the first site anywhere in Europe to open the PrevenTron trial, taking the lead on recruitment across the country.
The study will offer healthy individuals aged 55 and above a blood test capable of detecting biological markers of Alzheimer’s years in advance of cognitive decline.
Those found to have elevated levels of the tau protein within a specified range will be invited to take part.
Over 15 hospitals and clinics across the UK, including locations in Scotland and Wales, are expected to join the international study, with the majority anticipated to begin operations before the end of 2026.
Trontinemab, manufactured by the Swiss pharma giant Roche, represents a new generation of antibody therapy engineered to penetrate the brain far more effectively than its predecessors.
The drug targets amyloid, the sticky protein that builds up in the brain and is linked to the onset of Alzheimer’s.
It employs a so-called “brain shuttle” mechanism designed to ferry greater quantities of the active substance across the blood-brain barrier while limiting exposure to the rest of the body.
Initial research has generated considerable optimism, with high doses appearing to eliminate amyloid plaques entirely after just three monthly infusions.
Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust are leading a trial of a world’s first medicine for Alzheimer’s
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That pace of clearance is markedly quicker than lecanemab and donanemab — the first treatments shown to slow Alzheimer’s progression — which generally require upwards of a year to achieve comparable results.
Whether this faster removal of amyloid will deliver superior cognitive protection remains unknown.
Prospective participants will first be assessed through memory tests to confirm they have no significant cognitive difficulties.
They will then undergo a blood test measuring levels of p-tau217, a protein capable of revealing the biological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s long before any symptoms surface.
Prior studies have shown that p-tau217 blood tests can detect the disease with accuracy rates as high as 95 per cent.
Individuals with the most elevated readings were found to face a 78 per cent likelihood of developing cognitive impairment within ten years.
The drug aims to target amyloid, the sticky protein that builds up in the brain and is linked to the onset of Alzheimer’s
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Those whose results meet the trial’s criteria will proceed to additional investigations, including MRI and PET brain scans, before formal enrolment.
Once accepted, participants will be randomly allocated to receive either trontinemab or a placebo.
Researchers plan to recruit roughly 1,600 healthy adults aged 55 to 80 worldwide and monitor them over a period of four to six years.
Professor Ramin Nilforooshan, the trial’s chief investigator, described the study as a fundamental departure from established practice. “For decades, research has focused on treating Alzheimer’s disease after symptoms appear.”
“PrevenTron addresses a different question — whether we can act earlier, before symptoms begin,” he told The Telegraph.
He noted that the pathology underlying Alzheimer’s is believed to take hold five to 10 years before patients typically seek help for memory difficulties.
Professor Nilforooshan was equally candid about the uncertainties involved. “I’m not saying this trial is magic. It’s an investigational medicine. We need to wait and see: will it work or not?” he said.
He added that participants’ motivations were likely to vary widely, particularly among those who had watched parents develop dementia.
“Maybe some people want to plan their life. Maybe some people want to have an early retirement or have the last journey in Australia with the family together,” he said.
“Maybe they want to know, or maybe they want to avoid what happened to their parents happening to themselves.”
The ambition driving the trial, prescribing preventive medication to those at high risk during middle age, has been likened by experts to a “statins for the brain” approach.
Close to one million people in the UK currently live with dementia, a figure projected to climb to 1.4 million by 2040.
Lecanemab and donanemab, which slowed cognitive decline by 27 per cent and 35 per cent respectively in symptomatic patients, have both received licences in Britain but were deemed insufficiently cost-effective for routine NHS provision.
Negotiations between manufacturers and NHS officials over pricing continue.
Both drugs carry risks of brain swelling and bleeding, necessitating repeated MRI monitoring that adds to their expense.
Early evidence suggests trontinemab may produce fewer such complications, potentially reducing both surveillance requirements and overall costs.
Researchers will initially contact individuals previously discharged from memory clinics with intact cognition, though anyone in the country may apply.