Results from Roche's Phase Ib/IIa trial of new Alzheimer's drug trontinemab were presented at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) in Toronto this week.
The trial, known as Brainshuttle™ AD, found nine in 10 people prescribed trontinemab experienced amyloid clearance within 28 weeks, meaning visible markers of disease had vanished. Roche announced its plans for Phase III studies to kick off this year in people with both early symptomatic and preclinical Alzheimer's.
Here, UK DRI researchers comment on the news:
Prof Sir John Hardy, Group Leader at the UK DRI at UCL, said:
“This is great news. It sucks the plaque out of the brain really quickly, faster than we have seen with lecanemab or donanemab. This could be game-changing. We hope that if we can give these drugs to people early, we can halt the progression of disease, even before people have symptoms. Now we need to see the size of the clinical effect in phase 3 trials. These results show it could be faster and safer than previous drugs, which would mean less monitoring. That could bring down the costs significantly as it would mean fewer MRI scans, so that would hopefully mean it would get NICE approval.”
Prof Jonathan Schott, Group Leader at the UK DRI at UCL, said:
“We urgently need a range of treatments for Alzheimer’s that are effective and safe for the people affected by this devastating disease. Evidence presented at the Alzheimer’s Association conference in Toronto on trontinemab is very promising, showing that the drug can effectively and rapidly clear amyloid from the brain, seemingly with very few side effects. We now need to see whether these early stage results carry through to later stage clinical trials, which are planned to start later this year, including in the UK. These trials will show whether the drug is not only safe, but impacts on memory, thinking and quality of life.”
Prof Bart De Strooper, Group Leader at the UK DRI at UCL, said:
"There is truly exciting news! First, several groups in the United States reported their real-world experience with lecanemab and donanemab in clinical practice. Overall, the reports were positive, with side effects largely manageable.
The biggest news, however, came from Roche, which is moving full speed ahead with trontinemab into phase III trials. Trontinemab is a monoclonal antibody targeting amyloid plaques, engineered with a transferrin receptor–mediated shuttle to enhance blood–brain barrier penetration. Phase II data were remarkable: the drug produced rapid amyloid plaque clearance, improved multiple biomarkers, and showed a much lower incidence of ARIA, even in APOE4 homozygotes.
The atmosphere in the room was electric. Everyone was enthusiastic about the results, and hope is high that early treatment with these next-generation antibodies could finally stabilise the disease."
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