Axios Event: New Alzheimer’s drugs are “just the beginning,” expert says

WASHINGTON, D.C. – While our understanding of risk factors and new medicines for Alzheimer's and dementia is improving, the quest to develop widely effective treatments is still ongoing.

• Axios senior policy reporter Caitlin Owens and senior health care reporter Tina Reed moderated conversations with UsAgainstAlzheimer's co-founder George Vradenburg, Alzheimer's Association chief public policy officer Robert Egge and HHS dep. assistant sec. for behavioral health, disability and aging policy Tisamarie B. Sherry at the event, which was sponsored by The Heart of the Solution.

Why it matters: The launch of two new FDA-approved Alzheimer's drugs has generated optimism, but slow rollout, limited access and questions around effectiveness signal there is still much work to be done to develop more comprehensive treatments for the many variations of Alzheimer's and dementia.

What they're saying: "In a sense, this is exciting, and on the other sense, it is just the beginning," Vradenburg said.

• The recently approved drugs target amyloids, but not other pathologies also causing Alzheimer's and dementia.
• Egge said that the launch of the new drugs "has been encouraging, but it's been slow."

Alzheimer's can develop decades before the onset of symptoms so earlier intervention will also be key in improving abilities to slow down the development of the disease.

• "The next range is whether or not these amyloid-targeting drugs … whether they will work even better by going to people who have the pathology of the disease before they get symptoms," Vradenburg said.

New information identifying wide ranges of risk factors has provided more clarity on actions people can take to reduce their risk. A key focus of Sherry's work at HHS has been helping the public make sense of it all.

• "Hypertension is probably a risk factor for which we have the strongest established evidence base. But also importantly, diabetes, smoking, obesity, depression, hearing loss, we're seeing evidence really accumulate for that as well," Sherry said.

Sponsored content:

In a View From the Top sponsored segment, The Heart of the Solution scientific advisor Jack Juni emphasized that while there are proven effective methods in Alzheimer's prevention, "we can't prevent our way out."

• "There's good evidence that exercise, the heart healthy diet, taking care of high blood pressure, all of those things reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's and probably reduce the severity," Juni said.
• "But if you total together [the] perfect prevention program, getting rid of all known risk factors, you only have a 40% reduction in Alzheimer's."